contrived

/kənˈtɹaɪvd/

contrived is the simple past and past participle of contrive.

Adjective

contrived (comparative more contrived, superlative most contrived)

Created in a deliberate, rather than natural or spontaneous, way.
- contrived joke
- contrived answer
Unnatural, forced; artificial, or unrealistic.

contrive (third-person singular simple present contrives, present participle contriving, simple past and past participle contrived)

To invent by an exercise of ingeniosity; to devise
- […]I cannot bear the idea of two young women traveling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must contrive to send somebody.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
Synonyms:

plan, scheme, plot, hatch, get
To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation.
To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light.
(obsolete, transitive) To spend (time, or a period).

comparative	more contrived
superlative	most contrived

What does contrived mean?: Contrived means created in a deliberate, rather than natural or spontaneous, way.
What is contrived the simple past and past participle of?: Contrived is the simple past and past participle of contrive.
What part of speech is contrived?: Contrived is an adjective.
How do you pronounce contrived?: Contrived is pronounced /kənˈtɹaɪvd/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: contrived (page history and authors); contrive (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-contrived.ogg.

Cite this entry: “contrived.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contrived. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.