Finesse

/fɪˈnɛs/ · noun

Meaning

(uncountable) A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation..

Definitions by Sense

1. (uncountable) A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation.
2. (uncountable) The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill.
3. (countable) An adroit maneuver.
4. (countable, card games) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over.
5. (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem.
6. (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing.
7. (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse.
8. (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.

Example Sentences

It is not impossible that this bold attempt to wrest from this State and Nation, so large and important a frontier territory; with the insidious arts, and unblushing finesse and chicanery, with which the British pretensions have been managed, may yet awaken the American people from their apathy on the subject— […]

When Lovat finally took the resolution of dispatching his son, with the best part of his clan, to the assistance of Charles Edward, a resolution which was not adopted without much hesitation and many misgivings, he feigned, with characteristic finesse, an apology for his march.

Finesse is not exactly subtlety; we draw a person into a snare with finesse; we escape from it with subtlety. We act with finesse, and we play a subtle trick. Distrust is inspired by an unsparing use of finesse; yet we almost always deceive ourselves if we too generally suspect it.

The Treaty of Madrid called into action the diplomatic finesse, or rather the low cunning of the English cabinet.

Kelly and Christensen, and their relentless courtship of people who like to position themselves against mainstream orthodoxy, allow that welcoming signal to be sent without senior players in government being caught on the sticky paper (apart from Michael McCormack, who blunders in periodically trying to court the politically estranged with all the finesse of an exploding cigar).

An Indian known by the name of Silver Heels, from his superior agility, as well as his admirable finesse in the art of war, and who had killed more of the enemy than any one of the tribes in alliance with Great Britain, accidentally came into the fort just before the soldier was to receive his punishment, and expressed his displeasure that a man should be so shamefully disgraced.

The first inroads on our laws of incest were made at the instigation, and by the secret management, of some of our "prime nobles," who had either seduced, or married, or pledged themselves to marry a wife's sister; and who wished by this finesse, to escape, at once, public odium and personal responsibility; […]

[A] simplified version of English, called Basic English, […] is mainly intended for tangibles like business and scientific cooperation, and the designer of which renounces the intention of catering for the finesses of cultural exchange or diplomacy.

Synonyms for finesse

Antonyms for finesse

Related Words

Word Forms

• finesses
• finessing
• finessed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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