Other forms: contrivances
A contrivance is a clever device, or a plan that feels artificial. An ingenious contrivance, a mere contrivance, the plot is a contrivance.
The two senses are the same judgement pointed different ways: a mechanical contrivance is admired for its cleverness and a narrative contrivance is condemned for it. The word is at its sharpest in criticism, where it means the author's hand is showing.
1nouncontrivanceA clever device, or a plan that feels artificial.
“The ending of the novel felt like a contrivance, with every problem solved by a lucky coincidence.”
contrivance is a device, or an artifice.
Old French
controver
Middle English
contreve — to invent
English
contrive
English, today
contrivance
Built from
From contrive + -ance. contrive comes from Middle English contreve (“to invent”), from Old French controver (Modern French controuver), from trover (“to find”) (French trouver).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA