finesse
noun
extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
finessed
-
past participleof finesse.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
-
past tense formof finesse.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
finessenounextreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
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.
In much the way he finessed a truth about art facing evil in “Poetry,” the camera here is both predatory and a tool for catharsis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
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
Over the years, the honed and finessed those skills.
From BBC ● May 22, 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
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
