contrivance as a noun: - 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
contrivance
noun
1 contrivance
A device or control that is very useful for a particular job.
synonyms: appliance, contraption, convenience, gadget, gismo, gizmo, widget.
Dutch: vernuft, gadget, apparaat, toestel, apparaatje
2 contrivance
The faculty of contriving; inventive skill.
3 contrivance
An elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade:
— His testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track.
synonyms: dodge, stratagem.
Roget 626:
plan,
scheme,
design,
project;
proposal,
proposition,
suggestion;
resolution,
motion;
precaution
etc.
(provision)
673;
deep-laid plan
etc.
(premeditated)
611;
system
etc.
(order)
58;
organization
etc.
(arrangement)
60;
germ
etc.
(cause)
153.
sketch,
skeleton,
outline,
draught,
draft,
ebauche [Fr.],
brouillon [Fr.];
rough cast,
rough draft,
draught copy;
copy;
proof,
revise.
drawing,
scheme,
schematic,
graphic,
chart,
flow chart
(representation)
554.
forecast,
program,
programme,
prospectus;
carte du pays [Fr.];
card;
bill,
protocol;
order of the day,
list of agenda;
bill of fare
etc.
(food)
298;
base of operations;
platform,
plank,
slate [U.S.],
ticket [U.S.].
role;
policy
etc.
(line of conduct)
692.
contrivance,
invention,
expedient,
receipt,
nostrum,
artifice,
device;
pipelaying [U.S.];
stratagem
etc.
(cunning)
702;
trick
etc.
(deception)
545;
alternative,
loophole;
shift
etc.
(substitute)
147;
last shift
etc.
(necessity)
601.
measure,
step;
stroke,
stroke of policy;
master stroke;
trump card,
court card;
cheval de bataille [Fr.],
great gun;
coup,
coup d'etat [Fr.];
clever stroke,
bold stroke,
good move,
good hit,
good stroke;
bright thought,
bright idea.
intrigue,
cabal,
plot,
conspiracy,
complot†,
machination;
subplot,
underplot†,
counterplot.
schemer,
schemist†,
schematist†;
strategist,
machinator;
projector,
artist,
promoter,
designer
etc.
v.;
conspirator;
intrigant
etc.
(cunning)
702†.
... show more
4 contrivance
An artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc..
5 contrivance
Any improvised arrangement for temporary use.
synonym: lash-up.
6 contrivance
The act of devising something.
synonym: devisal.
Moby thesaurus: Charlie McCarthy, action, ad hoc measure, agent, anagnorisis, ancilla, angle, answer, apparatus, appliance, approach, architectonics, architecture, argument, arrangement, art, artful dodge, artifice, atmosphere, attack, authorship, background, beginning, blind, blueprint, blueprinting, brainchild, cabal, calculation, catastrophe, characterization, charting, chicanery, coinage, collusion, color, complication, complicity, complot, conception, concoction, confederacy, connivance, conspiracy, continuity, contraption, contriving, countermove, counterplot, coup, course of action, covin, craft, creation, creative effort, creature, cute trick, deceit, deep-laid plot, demarche, denouement, design, development, device, devising, disposition, dodge, dummy, dupe, effort, engineering, enterprise, envisagement, episode, expedient, fable, fabrication, fakement, falling action, feint, fetch, figuring, finagling, finesse, foresight, forethought, frame-up, gadget, gambit, game, generation, gimcrack, gimmick, gizmo, go-between, graphing, grift, ground plan, guidelines, hand tool, handmaid, handmaiden, hatching, idea, implement, improvisation, incident, instrument, intention, interagent, intermediary, intermediate, intermedium, intrigue, invention, jugglery, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, knavery, last expedient, last resort, last shift, layout, lever, line, lineup, little game, local color, long-range plan, machination, makeshift, making do, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulation, mapping, master plan, means, measure, mechanical device, mechanism, mediator, medium, method, methodology, midwife, minion, mintage, mood, motif, move, movement, mythos, operations research, organ, organization, origination, pawn, peripeteia, pis aller, plan, planning, planning function, plaything, plot, plotting, ploy, power tool, prearrangement, precision tool, procedure, program, program of action, puppet, racket, rationalization, recognition, red herring, resort, resource, rigging, rising action, ruse, schedule, schema, schematism, schematization, scheme, scheme of arrangement, schemery, scheming, secondary plot, servant, setup, shake-up, shift, slant, slave, sleight, solution, speed tool, step, stooge, stopgap, story, stratagem, strategic plan, strategy, stroke, stroke of policy, structure, subject, subplot, subterfuge, switch, system, systematization, tactic, tactical plan, tactics, temporary expedient, the big picture, the picture, thematic development, theme, tone, tool, topic, toy, trick, trickery, trump, twist, underplot, utensil, vehicle, way, web of intrigue, wile, wily device, wire-pulling, working hypothesis, working plan, working proposition ... show more.
debug info: 0.057