Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Contrived for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Contrived" — adjective, pronounced /kənˈtraɪvd/, with the stress on "trived".
Narrator: Contrived means artificial and obviously planned, so that it feels forced rather than natural.
Narrator: In plain English, it feels fake.
Narrator: It comes from Old French controver, to find or invent.
Narrator: A common collocation is "a contrived ending", which describes a plot resolved too conveniently.
Narrator: It differs from "clever", because contrived says the cleverness shows and spoils the effect.
Narrator: In a second sense, a contrived photograph is one posed to look spontaneous.
Narrator: Criticism, design review, marketing and creative writing rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: contrived means forced and unnatural.
Speaker A: Why did the critic dislike the ending?
Speaker B: She called it CONTRIVED! From Old French controver, to find or invent.
Speaker A: Too convenient?
Speaker B: Far too convenient.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The dialogue felt contrived", review. "A contrived photograph", criticism. "The example is contrived but useful", teaching.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: It is nearly always negative, so do not use it to praise a clever design.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Forced is its cousin, artificial its twin, and staged an alternative — yet contrived keeps its stagey charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "contrived" in AI prompts — useful for content critique and example design.
Speaker A: How for critique?
Speaker B: Honest notes.
Prompt: Review this landing page and flag any testimonial that reads as contrived.
Speaker A: And examples?
Speaker B: Teaching code.
Prompt: Replace this contrived code example with one from a realistic project.
Speaker A: Could it help scripts?
Speaker B: Yes, for dialogue.
Prompt: Rewrite this demo script so the conversation sounds natural rather than contrived.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Photos.
Prompt: Suggest art direction that avoids contrived stock-photo poses.
Contrived — meaning in Arabic & definition More C courses GL Dictionary