In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
CONTRIVED
artificial, contrived, hokey, stilted
(adjective) artificially formal; “that artificial humility that her husband hated”; “contrived coyness”; “a stilted letter of acknowledgment”; “when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation”
contrived
(adjective) showing effects of planning or manipulation; “a novel with a contrived ending”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
contrived
simple past tense and past participle of contrive
Adjective
contrived (comparative more contrived, superlative most contrived)
Created in a deliberate, rather than natural or spontaneous, way.
Unnatural, forced; artificial, or unrealistic.
Synonyms
• staged
Antonyms
• spontaneous
Source: Wiktionary
CONTRIVE
Con*trive", v. t. [imp. & p.p. Contrived; p.pr. & vb.n. Contriving.] Etym: [OE. contriven, contreven, controven, to invent, OF. controver, contruver; con- + trouver to find. See Troubadour, trover.]
Definition: To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to invent; to design; to plan. What more likely to contrive this admirable frame of the universe than infinite wisdom. Tillotson. neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life. Hawthorne.
Syn.
– To invent; discover; plan; design; project; plot; concert; hatch.
Con*trive", v. i.
Definition: To make devices; to form designs; to plan; to scheme; to plot. The Fates with traitors do contrive. Shak. Thou hast contrived against th very life Of the defendant. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 April 2025
WHOLE
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
Coffee Trivia
