contraption
noun/kənˈtræpʃn/
/kənˈtræpʃn/
- a machine or piece of equipment that looks strange or complicated and possibly does not work well
- She showed us a strange contraption that looked like a satellite dish.
Word Originearly 19th cent.: perhaps from contrive (on the pattern of pairs such as conceive, conception), by association with trap.
Check pronunciation:
contraption