1
as in negotiating
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 cheating
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 finagling
That's a reasonable take, but getting to the point of expanding the postseason once again is going to take some finagling at this time.
—
Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Other songs are less terminally online and more reminiscent of finagling fake IDs and getting blitzed on the LES.
—Lydia Wei, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Other songs are less terminally online and more reminiscent of finagling fake IDs and getting blitzed on the LES.
—Lydia Wei, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagling
Verb
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No need to worry about repairs, staging, open houses and negotiating.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
1 May 2026
-
As a city that is always negotiating with modernity, the tradition of jol khabar remains a comforting anchor, binding generations to their cultural roots and evoking nostalgia.—
Madhushree Basu Roy,
Saveur,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Fred, their oldest surviving child, was suspended from Princeton for cheating, then caught embezzling from his Seattle employer to feed, Church suspected, a gambling habit.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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Court documents state the Matthews were there to get the children after a fight between Ashley and Pouncey over cheating.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Another method involves manipulating routing through Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
4 May 2026
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However, manipulating elections or even giving the appearance of fixing an election is what an anti-Democracy person would do.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Clerk-Treasurer Corinne Peffers was also authorized to contact the Barnes & Thornburg law firm as counsel in arranging for a general obligation bond to finance the purchase.—
Jim Woods,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
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Grab a wide and shallow bowl, place a floral frog inside, and start arranging the tulip stems in an organic way.—
Maria Sabella,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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One particularly useful feature is the panoramic view monitor, which provides a bird’s-eye camera view of the vehicle when maneuvering in tight spaces.—
Sponsored Content,
Denver Post,
2 May 2026
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Ten prisoners housed in the Orleans Justice Center made their escape last spring, maneuvering out of a small hole in a wall and making their way out into the night.—
Devon Sayers,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The project brings together nearly 60 students from a wide range of majors, from engineering to communications, all working toward a common goal.—
Jamal Goss,
CBS News,
4 May 2026
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Senior computer engineering major Ayat Haque said parents can connect to the vehicle’s microcontroller via a Bluetooth app on their phone to control such features as speed.—
Shelley Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
Verb
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Stuart’s prose is gorgeous and his plotting strategic; nothing is lost.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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Patrick Reed has also left the circuit and is plotting a return via his performances on the DP World Tour.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finagling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagling. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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