contrivance

noun

1. A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task.
2. A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective.

   “I mean to give something as slight and inexpensive as possible; but I have been so long out of the way of these things, that I am really quite at a loss, and must throw myself on your kindness, as I hope you will be with me, and also Mr. and Mrs. Gooch. You must arrange in such a manner as not to blush for your own contrivances.”

   “And along with each of these go their images, not the things themselves, — they too have come about by godlike contrivance.”

3. Something overly artful or artificial.

   “The Harry Hamlin character is a bit of a hypochondriac, a contrivance that exists for the sole purpose of bringing him into contact with the confused young doctor at the clinic.”

   “The retrospective emphasis on these two specific stories—even their mention here, in the previous paragraph—has become a contrivance.”