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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagling
Verb
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Appeasing and negotiating with Putin has failed for decades.—
Kathleen Collins,
Twin Cities,
26 Oct. 2025 -
The firm’s work with multinational corporations seeking licenses and permits before government agencies (such as energy companies requesting development permits or investment companies negotiating with the Securities and Exchange Commission), or even litigating in federal court, could evaporate.—
Fabio Bertoni,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The documents included disciplinary information and reportedly showed that Sherrill was barred from walking at her 1994 graduation after refusing to inform on classmates involved in a cheating scandal.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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In backrooms, there was none of the surveillance tech that reputable casinos use to catch players cheating.—
Rob Wile,
NBC news,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The real reason is to wreak as much havoc as humanly possible, or at least that’s what we’re given to believe from the way the hostess swans about while deftly manipulating dozens of puppet strings simultaneously.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
29 Oct. 2025
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Since 2024, a number of lawsuits have been filed by parents against companies offering AI chatbots, alleging that extensive use of the technology led to a range of harms to kids, including manipulating and isolating them and leading to death by suicide.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Back in classes, arranging speech therapy for Jayden and planning a service at the seminary chapel, Rochelle was swamped.—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
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Roberts tried re-arranging his lineup, inserting Will Smith in the second spot behind Ohtani, while moving Mookie Betts to the third slot ahead of Freddie Freeman.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Sportico.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The extra context to this arrangement is Grab’s maneuvering to merge with Indonesian rival GoTo, which runs the Gojek service and is backed by SoftBank and China’s Taobao, among others.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
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The truck is designed for maneuvering through tight downtown streets and carries the Jaws of Life used to extract people trapped in collisions.—
Mona Darwish,
Oc Register,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Pitt pledge came out smoking hot after intermission, engineering a six-play, 75-yard drive that featured 5-of-5 passing — to five receivers — before capping the march with a 3-yard TD run himself.—
Mike Waters,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Oct. 2025
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When Tennessee attempted to claw back with a touchdown early in the second half, Simpson soothed any stress, engineering a nine-play, 99-yard drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Rico Scott.—
Ira Gorawara,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
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On Monday, Tchiroma accused the government of plotting to arrest him and posted images on social media of snipers near his residence - claims that could not be independently verified.—
NPR,
NPR,
27 Oct. 2025
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Monday was the first day of the rest of Neil Cole’s life — and the brand management pioneer is now plotting a comeback.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
27 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Finagling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagling. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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