contriving
Devising through cunning
Contriving is the act of devising or scheming—working out how to bring something about, often through cleverness or manipulation.
The word carries a whiff of artifice: She was always contriving ways to avoid her responsibilities.
Someone contriving appears calculating rather than spontaneous, engineering situations rather than letting them unfold naturally.
Devising a secret plan
- conspiringPlotting secretly with others
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- machinatingPlotting with harmful intent
- intriguingArousing eager interest
maneuvering · manipulating · calculating · designing · engineering · orchestrating · masterminding · hatching
Sly, scheming cleverness
- deviousUnderhanded and calculating
- slyCleverly deceptive
- artfulCleverly deceptive
- guilefulInclined toward deception
underhanded · duplicitous · deceitful · insidious · sneaky · foxy · wily · crafty
Creating through thought
- creatingMaking something new
- fabricatingManufacturing falsely
- constructingActively assembling or building
- fashioningMaking or constructing something
designing · engineering · rigging · improvising · jury-rigging · cobbling · assembling · concocting
Arranging for future events
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
- orchestratingArranging complex elements harmoniously
- coordinatingArranging for unified action
- arrangingSystematically positioning elements
positioning · timing · maneuvering · engineering · setting up · preparing · anticipating · premeditated
Cleverly original in design
- cleverShowing mental quickness
- creativeProducing original ideas
- innovativeIntroducing new ideas
- inventiveShowing original thought
adaptable · versatile · quick-witted · shrewd · astute · imaginative · enterprising · practical
plotting
Devising a secret plan
- conspiringPlotting secretly with others
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- machinatingPlotting with harmful intent
intriguing · maneuvering · manipulating · calculating · designing · engineering · orchestrating · masterminding · hatching · devising
cunning
Sly, scheming cleverness
guileful · underhanded · duplicitous · deceitful · insidious · sneaky · foxy · wily · crafty · tricky
devising
Creating through thought
- creatingMaking something new
- fabricatingManufacturing falsely
- constructingActively assembling or building
fashioning · designing · engineering · rigging · improvising · jury-rigging · cobbling · assembling · concocting · cooking up
planning
Arranging for future events
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
- orchestratingArranging complex elements harmoniously
- coordinatingArranging for unified action
arranging · positioning · timing · maneuvering · engineering · setting up · preparing · anticipating · premeditated · deliberate
ingenious
Cleverly original in design
- cleverShowing mental quickness
- creativeProducing original ideas
- innovativeIntroducing new ideas
inventive · adaptable · versatile · quick-witted · shrewd · astute · imaginative · enterprising · practical · problem-solving
- creatingcreating, inventing, producing, generating, making
- cunningcunning, craftiness, crafty, guile, slyness
- maneuveringmaneuvering, positioning, steering, repositioning, pivoting
contrivingstumbling upon
Finding by chance
happening upon · falling into · coming across · improvising · winging it
contrivingdestroying
Causing complete ruin
demolishing · ruining · dismantling · wrecking · undoing
contrived, contrive, contrivance, uncontrived, contrives, contrivances, contriver, contrivers