contrived

con·trived

adjective \kən-ˈtrīvd\

Definition of CONTRIVED

: having an unnatural or false appearance or quality : artificial, labored <a contrived plot>

Examples of CONTRIVED

1. The movie's contrived ending was a big disappointment.
2. The results of the test seemed somewhat contrived.
3. … it may remind readers of Christopher Nolan's ingeniously contrived mystery film “Memento” … —Joyce Carol Oates, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2005
4. The music industry has become far more image conscious and contrived since her first album affected me so profoundly … —Lisa Marie Presley, Time, 18 Apr. 2005
5. There are some who scorn that sterling art form, the afternoon soap opera, alleging that its characters are unbelievable, its plots contrived and its action negligible. —Lydel Sims, Assignment: Memphis, 1982

Origin of CONTRIVED

(see contrive)

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to CONTRIVED

Synonyms

affected, assumed, bogus, artificial, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural

Antonyms

artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

Related Words

automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied