contrivance
noun
con·triv·ance kən-ˈtrī-vən(t)s 
1
a
: a thing contrived
especially : a mechanical device
modern contrivances to cook food faster
b
: an artificial arrangement or development
Mistaken identity is used as a plot contrivance in the story.
2
: the act or faculty of contriving : the state of being contrived
Synonyms
- appliance
- contraption
- gadget
- gimmick
- gizmo
- gismo
- jigger
- widget
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
The story is filled with plot contrivances that do not fit the ending. He told the story honestly and without contrivance. a contrivance to get out of doing the work He convinced her to go without using contrivance.
Recent Examples on the Web The body-swapping contrivance is easier to believe than anything the film does with it. 
Amy Nicholson, Variety, 10 Aug. 2022 Vladimir Putin dismissed the revolution as a Western contrivance and promptly annexed Crimea, a strategic peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 2 May 2022 As with so many buzzy debuts, a major label’s efforts to prove a young star’s maturity breeds contrivance. Bobby Olivier, SPIN, 26 July 2022 The intent is to build a fake new self by hastily slapping together a library of memories, as though the most complex of processes can be replaced by a crude contrivance. Kyle Smith, WSJ, 23 June 2022 The exception is a Martin McDonagh-esque plot switch around another death, with a conclusion that raises a gasp but reveals little more than its authorial contrivance. Gordon Cox, Variety, 6 July 2022 The novel’s ambiguous and devastating coda seems to further confirm that Amir was never more than a sweet narrative contrivance. Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 So, in fiction especially, writing a story with an unsolved mystery often depends on a contrivance, some convenient loss of modern technology. Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 15 June 2022 Through a contrivance of angled mirrors and canny lighting, the gap is undetectable from inside the room. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022 See More
Amy Nicholson, Variety, 10 Aug. 2022 Vladimir Putin dismissed the revolution as a Western contrivance and promptly annexed Crimea, a strategic peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 2 May 2022 As with so many buzzy debuts, a major label’s efforts to prove a young star’s maturity breeds contrivance. Bobby Olivier, SPIN, 26 July 2022 The intent is to build a fake new self by hastily slapping together a library of memories, as though the most complex of processes can be replaced by a crude contrivance. Kyle Smith, WSJ, 23 June 2022 The exception is a Martin McDonagh-esque plot switch around another death, with a conclusion that raises a gasp but reveals little more than its authorial contrivance. Gordon Cox, Variety, 6 July 2022 The novel’s ambiguous and devastating coda seems to further confirm that Amir was never more than a sweet narrative contrivance. Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 So, in fiction especially, writing a story with an unsolved mystery often depends on a contrivance, some convenient loss of modern technology. Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 15 June 2022 Through a contrivance of angled mirrors and canny lighting, the gap is undetectable from inside the room. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
see contrive
First Known Use
circa 1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
contrivance
noun
con·triv·ance kən-ˈtrī-vəns
: something (as a scheme or a mechanical device) produced with skill and cleverness
contrivance
noun
1
as in gadget
an interesting and often novel device with a practical use a new contrivance for cleaning computer keyboards Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- gadget
- contraption
- tool
- mechanism
- appliance
- gizmo
- gimmick
- accessory
- instrument
- gismo
- innovation
- jigger
- invention
- widget
- ingenuity
- utensil
- implement
- trick
- accessary
- adjunct
- thingamajig
- thingamabob
- doohickey
- thingummy
- dingus
- doodad
- hootenanny
- hickey
- thingumajig
2
as in invention
something (as a device) created for the first time through the use of the imagination despite the many modern contrivances for saving time and labor, we seem to have less leisure and energy than ever before Synonyms & Similar Words
- invention
- innovation
- concoction
- creation
- contraption
- device
- coinage
- product
- wrinkle
- brainchild
- gadget
- conception
- gizmo
- gismo
- design
- novelty
- work
- phantasy
- origination
- imagining
- fantasy
- dream
- vision
- picture
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- imitation
- reproduction
- duplicate
- copy
- duplication
- facsimile
- replication
- clone
- replica
- reduplication
- dupe
- carbon copy
3
as in imagination
the ability to form mental images of things that either are not physically present or have never been conceived or created by others in that writer's hands, narrative contrivance can often deteriorate into pointless gimmickry Synonyms & Similar Words
- imagination
- imaginativeness
- creativity
- invention
- inventiveness
- phantasy
- fantasy
- fertility
- originality
- ingenuity
- fancy
- ideation
- resourcefulness
- delusion
- illusion
- chimera
- hallucination
- mirage
- fecundity
- phantasm
- dream
- versatility
- brainstorming
- inspiration
- figment
- brainstorm
- pipe dream
- daydream
- visualization
- fantasm
- envisaging
- mind's eye
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- literalness
- literality