1
as in negotiated
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cheated
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal
she'll finagle until she gets exactly what she wants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of finagled
On Sunday, August 10, the JoBros kicked off their Jonas20 tour in New Jersey, with Nick telling the audience that after Joe landed a lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, their dad finagled a way for Kevin and Nick to get parts as well.
—
Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2025
This whole thing seems staged, planned, finagled, massaged, bamboozled, lollygagged, and all sorts of other long, silly-sounding words that may not necessarily apply to this situation.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2025
Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2025
This whole thing seems staged, planned, finagled, massaged, bamboozled, lollygagged, and all sorts of other long, silly-sounding words that may not necessarily apply to this situation.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagled
Verb
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Unlike their peers in other major leagues, NBA players can invest in sports gambling companies and advertise for them, a right negotiated in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement.—
Mike Vorkunov,
New York Times,
18 Feb. 2026
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In recent weeks, Baker McKenzie, a white-shoe law firm, axed 700 employees, Salesforce sacked hundreds of workers, and the auditing firm KPMG negotiated lower fees with its own auditor.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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To sum up the series finale’s key moments, in the college timeline, Bree (Cat Missal), in a rage of anger after finding out that Lucy (Grace Van Patten) was the person Evan (Branden Cook) had cheated with, releases the tape of Lucy admitting to lying about being raped.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
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Ustyugov was also a part of the Russian relay team that won the gold medal in the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and was found to have cheated ahead of that season as well.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Alberdi is the rare filmmaker to enter the Berlinale with distribution for her film already arranged.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
14 Feb. 2026
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The two feel fortunate their national Olympic committees arranged for them to bunk together at Cortina's Olympic village, since typically only teammates share housing.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Both reflect on their experience and say they felt manipulated and vulnerable.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
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Do not let our youth be manipulated by agents of chaos into participating in protests, jeopardizing their education and future.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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At its core is a full suspension aluminum frame engineered for real off-road dominance.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
13 Feb. 2026
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Future Present Past was engineered by Jonathan Schenke and mixed by Andrew Lappin.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finagled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagled. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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