finesse
Americannoun
-
finesses
plural
-
extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
- Synonyms:
- sensibility, sensitivity, circumspection, diplomacy, tact
-
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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finesses,
present (3rd person singular)
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finessed,
past participle, past
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finessing
present participle
-
to use finesse or artifice.
-
to make a finesse at cards.
verb (used with object)
-
finesses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
finessed,
past participle, past
-
finessing
present participle
-
to bring about by finesse or artifice.
-
to avoid; circumvent.
-
to make a finesse with (a card).
-
to force the playing of (a card) by a finesse.
noun
-
elegant skill in style or performance
-
subtlety and tact in handling difficult situations
-
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
-
to play (a card) as a finesse
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
finessesimple
-
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
-
is finessingprogressive
-
have been finessingperfect progressive
-
has been finessingperfect progressive
Past
-
finessedsimple
-
had finessedperfect
-
was finessingprogressive
-
were finessingprogressive
-
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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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.
See Examples For:
In each locale, O’Keeffe’s palette and even the vibrancy of her works changed, and in each one her abiding originality, power and finesse as an artist are unmistakable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Against Cape Verde, Spain lacked finesse in their passing.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The mayor said he has played pickup basketball at city courts, including at Brooklyn Bridge Park, but acknowledges his style lacks finesse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The center, to the chagrin of many in the NBA, has long been known more for his finesse touch shots than physical play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026
“I have so much finesse, you don’t even know.”
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
After some no doubt supersubtle finesses and pivots on both sides, Black seems to have achieved his goal on 30.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
Soft and supple, it finesses the line between elegance and heft.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021
Grant attempts two tricky maneuvers with “Harpoon” and, for the most part, finesses them both.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2019
The chef, Jason Aldous, forages and then finesses hyper-fresh ingredients — fiddlehead ferns, ramps, organic duck eggs, local oysters — into dishes that highlight the crisp brine of the waters and earthiness of the terroir.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2017
Hoagland would say that now was the time for playing certain finesses, that in the wake of the activity arose those moments that could be manipulated.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Berkshire does own about $60 billion of Apple stock, but that issue likely could be finessed to get Cook.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
While Cooper scraped together the tiny budget from his own money, with help from family, and finessed Levy’s cooperation, Burke promised him they could shoot the film in a week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025
It’s a mammalian innovation, honed and finessed in the latter stages of the Mesozoic era, the so-called Age of Reptiles.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2024
In bright, airy studios in London and Malibu, they finessed what would become Lipa’s most ambitious — and euphoric-sounding — record to date.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024
UC Berkeley’s medical school would not get over its disdain for John’s studies for years, until the situation was finessed by the creation of a separate laboratory for radiation science in 1942.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Your idea is pretty special, but perhaps needs a little finessing.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
And there are some feelings about this show’s return that no amount of script finessing can alter.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
They’ve tested concepts on stage that haven’t worked; sometimes comedians themselves have realized their act needs more finessing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
With enough time and imagination, kickers and equipment managers are capable of finessing footballs in ways that make them soar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Tresler, watching him, could not quite make up his mind whether he was playing the winning hand, or whether his opponent was finessing for the odd trick.
From The Night Riders A Romance of Early Montana by Ridgwell Cullum
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.
