finagle

American  

[fi-ney-guhl] / fɪˈneɪ gəl /

Sometimes fenagle

verb (used with object)

finagled, finagling

1. to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed byout of ).

   He finagled the backers out of a fortune.

2. to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation.

   to finagle an assignment to the Membership Committee.

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verb (used without object)

finagled, finagling

1. to practice deception or fraud; scheme.

finagle British  

/ fɪˈneɪɡəl /

verb

1. (tr) to get or achieve by trickery, craftiness, or persuasion; wangle

2. to use trickery or craftiness on (a person)

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Other Word Forms

• finagler noun

Etymology

Origin of finagle

An Americanism first recorded in 1925–30; finaig- (variant of fainaigue ) + -le

Explanation

When you finagle, you get out of something using devious methods, like when you pretend you're sick to avoid taking a pop quiz. Finagle is a word with a usually negative connotation, as it means to get something by being dishonest or tricking someone. To get a student discount from a bookstore by pretending you're a student is to finagle the store clerk. Finagle might also mean to get your way by being clever, as when you convince your sister that what she really wants for her birthday is that video game you've been dreaming of for months.

Example Sentences

Indeed, the internet is full of DIY hackers explaining how to finagle a frunk unofficially.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 7, 2022

Francisco-Juan claimed to be the 10-year-old’s father and had managed to finagle her mother into putting his name on her birth certificate, manufacturing bogus proof of the relationship.

From Washington Times • Aug. 21, 2022

He figured he could become a military correspondent and finagle his way into broadcast to gain experience behind the camera and eventually move into film.

From Washington Post • Jun. 27, 2022

Sure, reporters get to skip a few buses when they schedule ahead, but that can take a month to finagle and there’s nothing that feels very V.I.P. at the jail itself.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2022

Since my dayee Mehrdad lived in the coveted and ritzy Saratoga neighborhood within Lynbrook's district, we used his address to finagle our way into the school.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi