contrivancy
contrivancy is the alternative form of contrivance.
Meaning of contrivance
Noun
contrivance (plural contrivances)
- A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task.
- Synonyms:
- contraption
- A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective.
- I mean to give something as slight and inexpensive as possible; but I have been so long out of the way of these things, that I am really quite at a loss, and must throw myself on your kindness, as I hope you will be with me, and also Mr. and Mrs. Gooch. You must arrange in such a manner as not to...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 208
- Something overly artful or artificial.
- When the stamens of a flower suddenly spring towards the pistil, or slowly move one after the other towards it, the contrivance seems adapted solely to ensure self-fertilisation; and no doubt it is useful for this end: but, the agency of insects is often required to cause the stamens to spring...1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC
- The making of cunning or deceitful plans
- Synonyms:
- scheming, engineering
Forms of contrivancy
| plural | contrivancies |
|---|
Questions about contrivancy
- What is contrivancy the alternative form of?
- Contrivancy is the alternative form of contrivance.
Words near contrivancy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: contrivancy (page history and authors); contrivance (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “contrivancy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contrivancy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.