Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Contrive \Con*trive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Contrived}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Contriving}.] [OE. contriven, contreven, controven,
   to invent, OF. controver, contruver; con- + trouver to find.
   See {Troubadour}, {trover}.]
   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.

Source : WordNet®

contrived
     adj 1: showing effects of planning or manipulation; "a novel with a
            contrived ending"
     2: 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" [syn: {artificial},
        {hokey}, {stilted}]