1
as in to negotiate
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
let me look at my schedule and see if I can't finagle a visit to the museum
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to cheat
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal
she'll finagle until she gets exactly what she wants
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of finagle
And somehow that felt easier to finagle than this.
—
Samantha Leal, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Jan. 2026
Save them the struggle of having to finagle with a manual wine bottle opener.
—Brandi Fuller, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2025
Moorjani plays Aruna, the Los Angeles Waves’ incredibly blunt star accountant who can finagle her way around any number of financial hurdles.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Ryan O’Donnell, the interim executive director at Data for Progress, emphasized the overall finding that the electorate did not want Trump to finagle a third term.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Samantha Leal, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Jan. 2026
Save them the struggle of having to finagle with a manual wine bottle opener.
—Brandi Fuller, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2025
Moorjani plays Aruna, the Los Angeles Waves’ incredibly blunt star accountant who can finagle her way around any number of financial hurdles.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Ryan O’Donnell, the interim executive director at Data for Progress, emphasized the overall finding that the electorate did not want Trump to finagle a third term.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagle
Verb
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Almost every Democrat who responded blamed Republicans for refusing to reopen most of DHS while continuing to negotiate on immigration enforcement funding.—
Arden Farhi,
CBS News,
25 Mar. 2026
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By the time fall approached, Kise and Bhirud, with Blanche’s blessing, were negotiating Ver’s extraordinary deal line by line.—
Avi Asher-Schapiro,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Indigenous people have been cheated through laws such as are operated in Nigeria today.—
Noo Saro-Wiwa,
The Dial,
24 Mar. 2026
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Paul frequently accuses Mortenson of cheating and lying, which he’s openly admitted to — after he gets caught.—
Jodi Guglielmi,
Rolling Stone,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The academy had been looking for a venue that offered greater control over how the show is staged, including how the audience is arranged and how the room is used for both the broadcast and the live event.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Mar. 2026
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Trump administration officials are working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan this weekend to discuss an off-ramp to the war in Iran, two senior administration officials told CNN.—
Mustafa Qadri,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Research shows that abusers will threaten, harm or kill a beloved companion animal to manipulate and control the people who love them.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2026
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To avoid detection by streaming platforms, Smith spread his automated, manipulated streams across thousands of different songs, knowing that concentrating streams on a single track would be flagged, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finagle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagle. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
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