finagled

verb

past tense of finagle
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

Relevance

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of finagled Even top-of-the-food-chain schools like Michigan, UCLA and Washington have recently finagled their balance sheets to cover athletic deficits. — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 15 July 2026 In Europe with friends, Reed finagled his way into the Venice Film Festival in 1965 and interviewed Buster Keaton and Jean-Paul Belmondo. — Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagled
  1. negotiated
  2. cheated
  3. arranged
  4. manipulated
  5. engineered
Verb
  • This will happen on six occasions from October through to December, but only if the tie against Tromso is safely negotiated to set up three home matches and three away in the league phase.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Greenwich plans to release the film in theaters early next year after the company’s Andy Bohn negotiated the deal with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of negotiated
Verb
  • Bo told Lu that if the audit produced evidence that he had been cheated, Wang should go to prison.
    — Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In one case, several systems worked on a problem in parallel, one cheated outright, and the system assigned to summarize their work did not flag it.
    — Craig S. Smith, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheated
Verb
  • The two prescriptions would be arranged in concentric rings, alternating outward as though from a bull’s-eye.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
  • But, like the modern concept of condominium ownership, the investors purchased shares of the theater (corresponding to the 44 private boxes arranged on three levels).
    — Irene S. Levine, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of arranged
Verb
  • The sheriff's office also sought to rebut theories that had circulated publicly about the case, including claims that evidence was missing or the crime scene had been manipulated.
    — Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Prosecutors argue that Clancy manipulated her providers and sought quick fixes for her depression and anxiety.
    — Melina Khan, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of manipulated
Verb
  • The success is also partly engineered by Samsung because reports suggest that the iPhone Fold will cost between $2,000 and $2,400.
    — Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Most of the region’s sewers were engineered generations ago to drain well under 2 inches of rain per hour, and a cloudburst can deliver double that amount.
    — Ravi S. Bhalla, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of engineered

Browse Nearby Words

finagle
finagled
finagler
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Finagled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagled. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on finagled

Nglish: Translation of finagled for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of oxymoron

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All