contrive

When a lady’s maid and a houseguest’s valet fall in love, they contrive to unite their incompatible employers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

The author’s few attempts at regret or self-reflection don’t land, nor do her efforts to contrive a kind of contemporary, Didion-inspired journalistic style that mixes meticulous observation with first-person intimacy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025

One of the first things McCartney did when he took over the Buffs in 1982 was contrive a rivalry with Nebraska and ban red in the football building.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

First, undercover officers contrive a situation to cross paths with the target of an investigation.

From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2023

“I have cast my lot with my friend, and I will contrive some way to go to him. But your safety is the matter now at hand.”

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

So even if the U.S. somehow contrives to lose to Paraguay, draw with Australia, and lose to Turkey, for example, it’s highly likely they’ll get into the Round of 16.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

With the younger son taking over as jailer, this goes on for a century, until Dream contrives to escape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2022

He contrives a blowout weekend for him and his boy: a trip to Milwaukee and a major-league baseball game.

From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2022

Lethem’s plot contrives for have Journeyman ride out the end of the world in a Maine idyll where people are both well-off and self-sufficient—a rarity in modern life.

From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2021

Technical proofs are the arguments that the orator contrives.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

I’m wondering if the justices are themselves creating these absurd notions or if appellate advocates are suggesting and steering the justices toward these contrived ways of thinking.

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026

"Affable", "warm", and a close ally says he's a "really nice person – politics is a contact sport and it's not contrived".

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

It could be contrived and improbable and old-fashioned in its triumphs snatched from the jaws of defeat, and I completely loved it.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

In parliament ahead of the vote, Bolojan defended his push for reforms, slamming the motion as "deceitful, cynical, and contrived."

From Barron's ● May 5, 2026

Hagrid’s face darkened and Harry knew why: Tom Riddle had contrived to have Hagrid thrown out of school, blamed for opening the Chamber of Secrets.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

The FDA implicitly concedes that the RP1 results are impressive by contriving ridiculous reasons to argue they could be exaggerated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

Redondo hit the post twice in a matter of seconds - first seeing her header brilliantly tipped on to the woodwork by Daphne van Domselaar, before contriving to turn the rebound off the same upright.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2023

Perhaps his primary knack was for contriving a tension between immaculate optics and human entropy.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2023

A Hong apartment almost invariably belongs to a guy whose romantic woes are of his own contriving, or fumbling.

From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2020

For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien