contrive

The members must contrive to pay the new guy off, which means redeeming the deadbeat’s paper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

As Mariko, Sawai, recently seen in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” is the picture of melancholic resolve, and the filmmakers contrive to highlight her otherworldly beauty, filling the screen with her face at every opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2024

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

"From that day on he would contrive situations to get me alone," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2023

‘There will be no escape again, if we do not contrive it. How that is to be done cannot be guessed, but first we must overtake them.’

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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

A couple of times in this short and occasionally exhilarating feature from Colombia, its director, Camilo Restrepo, contrives striking visual juxtapositions.

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2022

And while the Survivor season contrives to have its David come out ahead, White’s fictionalized version offers no such assurances about the triumph of the underdog.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2021

Technical proofs are the arguments that the orator contrives.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

In a film full of contrived indignities, this is the most maddening, suggesting that anyone watching the film is no more clever than the “Fossil Fools” audience members.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Scenes designed to advance the plot feel more contrived than ones in which characters just share thoughts and feelings, but there are plenty of those.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

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

An independent disciplinary commission ruled at the time that the espionage was authorised by Eckert and was a "contrived and determined plan from the top down".

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

It might, he added, be contrived of silver and precious stones and serve incidentally as a ducal chalice.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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

Figuring out a flow chart of blame is contriving chaos into organization.

From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2021

I counted to one hundred as I rocked, contriving the patience to get one down in order to take up another.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver