finesse

[ fi-ness ]

/ fɪˈnɛss /

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See synonyms for: finesse / finessing on Thesaurus.com

noun

extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.

skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management: exceptional diplomatic finesse.

a trick, artifice, or stratagem.

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), fi·nessed, fi·ness·ing.

to use finesse or artifice.

to make a finesse at cards.

verb (used with object), fi·nessed, fi·ness·ing.

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR finesse

1, 2 tact, diplomacy, savoir faire, circumspection, sensitivity, sensibility.

See synonyms for finesse on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of finesse

1400–50; late Middle English: degree of excellence or purity <Middle French <Vulgar Latin *fīnitia.See fine¹, -ice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use finesse in a sentence

At the same time, settlements are belittled (they can be “finessed” according to Morris).
Of Herrings and Elephants: Benny Morris and "Palestinian Rejectionism"|Daniel Levy|April 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He finessed questions about his personal opposition to contraception and found ways to keep jabbing back at Romney.
Rick Santorum’s Beltway Curse Is Hurting His 2012 Campaign|Howard Kurtz|February 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Santorum finessed the question by saying his wife, Karen, had helped him write that section.
Santorum’s Popularity Puzzle|Howard Kurtz|February 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Yet here she was, debonnaire and fresh and perfectly appointed—and ah, so terribly neat and spectacularly finessed!
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete|Gilbert Parker

That ramming was undoubtedly one of the prettiest little jobs of its kind, one of the most neatly finessed, ever brought off.
Sea-Hounds|Lewis R. Freeman
As he had reached Her without equipment and without resources, they finessed a little about his leave.
The Bbur-nma in English|Babur, Emperor of Hindustan
The word "finessed" in my last, your compositor has transformed into finified.
Nuts for Future Historians to Crack|Various

British Dictionary definitions for finesse

finesse

/ (fɪˈnɛs) /

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

Word Origin for finesse

C15: from Old French, from fin fine, delicate; see fine 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

finesse

OTHER WORDS FOR finesse

Origin of finesse

Words related to finesse

How to use finesse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for finesse

Word Origin for finesse