People who invent, design, or create something, especially through clever planning or scheming.
From 'contrive' (Old French 'controver'), meaning to invent or devise, plus '-er' to indicate one who does the action, with '-s' for plural. Dates back to the 15th century.
Renaissance engineers and inventors proudly called themselves 'contrivers'—it was an honored term before it took on negative connotations of trickery!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.