finesse
Americannoun
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extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
- Synonyms:
- sensibility, sensitivity, circumspection, diplomacy, tact
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skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management.
exceptional diplomatic finesse.
- Synonyms:
- sensibility, sensitivity, circumspection, diplomacy, tact
-
a trick, artifice, or stratagem.
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Bridge, Whist. an attempt to win a trick with a card while holding a higher card not in sequence with it, in the hope that the card or cards between will not be played.
verb (used without object)
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to use finesse or artifice.
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to make a finesse at cards.
verb (used with object)
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to bring about by finesse or artifice.
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to avoid; circumvent.
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to make a finesse with (a card).
-
to force the playing of (a card) by a finesse.
noun
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elegant skill in style or performance
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subtlety and tact in handling difficult situations
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bridge whist an attempt to win a trick when opponents hold a high card in the suit led by playing a lower card, hoping the opponent who has already played holds the missing card
-
a trick, artifice, or strategy
verb
-
to manage or bring about with finesse
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to play (a card) as a finesse
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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finessesimple
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finessessimple
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have finessedperfect
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has finessedperfect
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am finessingprogressive
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are finessingprogressive
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is finessingprogressive
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have been finessingperfect progressive
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has been finessingperfect progressive
Past
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finessedsimple
-
had finessedperfect
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was finessingprogressive
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were finessingprogressive
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had been finessingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of finesse
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English: “degree of excellence or purity,” from Middle French, from fin fine 1 + -esse -ice
Explanation
Having finesse means you can handle difficult situations with diplomacy and tact, like the finesse it takes to help two friends work out their differences — without taking sides or alienating either one. Finesse is having grace under pressure. It's handling the rantings of an angry customer with a smile and a calm tone. Someone who has finesse says the right thing at the right time — or knows when to say nothing at all. Finesse looks like fineness and in fact comes from the Middle French word that means exactly that — delicate in nature. People with finesse can handle anything — with a delicate approach that really works.
Vocabulary lists containing finesse
Trumps
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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This Week in Pop Culture: February 2 - 8, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Details of the investment were not released, though Financial Finesse Ventures said their typical investment ranges from $500,0000 to $1.5 million for a minority stake.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2022
Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, used his speech to namecheck the rappers who had influenced him, from pioneers Tupac, Chuck D, Outkast and Snoop Dogg to more underground names like Lord Finesse and JJ Fad.
From BBC • Nov. 7, 2022
“You would have thought it was Studio 54,” says actor-comedian Finesse Mitchell.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2022
Black bass are good on spawning beds using Finesse worm before the cool front weather change.
From Washington Times • Mar. 25, 2020
Finesse would be wasted upon one with your penetrating mind, and I pay you the highest compliment I know when I discard any attempt to use it.
From Before the Dawn A Story of the Fall of Richmond by Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
