kən.ˈtrīvən(t)s noun
( -s )
1. : the act or faculty of contriving
a ready and lively contrivance of certain ideal solutions — J.P.Anton
: inventive ability : skill at devising : ingenuity
the writer's expert contrivance often becomes mere trickery
2. : the quality or state of being contrived : artificial arrangement or mechanical assembling as opposed to natural or logical development
at times in the story contrivance is obvious and so are coming events — L.T.Bulman
the lack of emotional impact which is the effect of a too careful contrivance — Times Literary Supplement
3. : a thing contrived:
a. : artifice , scheme , plan
telling a story honestly without dramatic contrivances
government is a contrivance of human wisdom — Edmund Burke
b. : a mechanical device : invention , appliance
how prosaic the modern … contrivances compared to the old boilers [fire-engines] — Elmer Rice