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

See Examples For:

finagle finagled finagling

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

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 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

“Sometimes, if I write it out, I use dollar signs and an exclamation point for the I. There are things you have to finagle to make it work.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2021

If she used some of his vast fortune to fund her music career and finagle a starring role on Broadway, so what?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2021

The conference had filled up months earlier, but Jesse managed to finagle his way in over the phone.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

I don’t know how these guys finagled that.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

He had finagled some blank report cards and used them to bring home self-inserted high marks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2025

He finagled it so that he ran the leg that passed right in front of his and my friend’s house on Monroe Drive.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2024

In the mid-80s, Mr. Gill finagled a date with Ms. Fishko, the longtime public radio host and producer, with a bit of subterfuge.

From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2021

Well, that combined with their kindness/goodness/purity of heart and garnished with my certitude that this glorious triad I somehow finagled my way into is definitely, definitely temporary.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Hummel is one of the few who relish diagnosing their problems, taking them apart and finagling them in and out of trucks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

But she has an ulterior motive in shrewdly finagling her way into a job at an esteemed Chicago law firm, which is revealed by the end of the hour and sets the season in motion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024

And, as the rookies sign, the Seahawks will have to do some finagling to get cap compliant.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

It took some finagling to get on the lists—the spots were reserved for clients, customers, and dealers willing to fork over their contact info and sit through a sales pitch—but I had a dealer’s credential.

From Slate ● May 30, 2023

After finagling ourselves out of a visit to the principal’s office, we limped home.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman