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

According to the documents, Ramos “was able to finagle his way” into McClurg’s residence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

Premium cabins typically aren’t cheap if you’re paying a cash fare, but you might be able to finagle your way to an upgrade.

From Seattle Times ● May 25, 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

Foster and her fiance, meanwhile, may sacrifice the “feel of a wedding” to finagle room for more guests by taking advantage of looser restaurant regulations that allow for more people indoors.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2021

They spent what remained of their honeymoon on deck, learning how to finagle their way through Ellis Island.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

“Somehow, he had finagled the thing from the military.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

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

Los Angeles’ city officials and civic moguls finagled and schemed more than 110 years ago to bring its waters to Los Angeles — essentially sticking a 200-something-mile-long straw in the lake.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2023

He picked up gigs in the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village, finagled a room at the Metropole Hotel in Times Square and met Mr. Rich and Mr. Krupa, who both took him under their wing.

From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2022

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

While the film takes a clever yet light bit of finagling to find online, it’s worth the search: “A Diva’s Christmas Carol” is a life-altering, life-affirming event movie to rival even the best Dickens alteration.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025

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

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

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman