1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

finessed

verb

past tense of finesse
1
as in negotiated
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care had to finesse the schedule a bit to fit in another patient that afternoon

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in avoided
to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery tried to finesse the blame for the foreign policy fiasco, even though he was secretary of state at the time

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 finessed Importantly, there was a feeling, according to multiple sources, that Jackson had scope to be finessed. — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 The two scenes that were finessed the most, where McKenna’s interpretation of Nicky was most crucial, were his first meeting with Ralph (Winston Sawyers) and his Episode 1 confrontation with Jack (Lox Pratt). — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 31 May 2026 The immaculate lineup of laminated pastries, like a pandan cream croissant, is similarly finessed. — Allecia Vermillion, Bon Appetit Magazine, 26 May 2026 Repossi finessed the rose gold used in its latest spiraling Blast high jewelry pieces, playing up its yellow gleam under a gradient of orange gemstones. — Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 20 Feb. 2026 The director also finessed Hollywood. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 5 Dec. 2025 Back in Miami, Winter finessed his preparation with former Duncan Ensemble dancer Ivette Sotomayor. — Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2025 Cruz finessed his way into not allowing a Red Sox runner to cross the plate, keeping the score tied. — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025 Man Ray is one of the few Dada-Surrealist cusp figures who finessed affiliations with both movements without alienating either one. — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finessed
  1. negotiated
  2. avoided
  3. engineered
  4. evaded
  5. manipulated
  6. escaped
  7. arranged
  8. plotted
Verb
  • But there was this other documentary series filming there that had negotiated for exclusive rights to film at Burning Man for, like, two or three years.
    — Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • But this is the second consecutive offseason Duren has negotiated for a new deal, and those attempts, thus far, have proven futile.
    — Hunter Patterson, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of negotiated
Verb
  • Michigan avoided its biggest upset since losing to Appalachian State at the beginning of the 2007 season.
    — Ryan Gaydos OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Angelenos avoided the most significant impacts of Hurricane Marie over the Labor Day weekend, but the region continued to soak up the fringes of the storm Sunday, according to meteorologists.
    — Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of avoided
Verb
  • The drop-protection phone case was engineered to offer up to 16ft drop protection, which can come in handy for outdoor phone protection, where the risk of accidental drops is higher.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Windows 11 Pro is engineered to work with your PC — not against it—so your system finally runs like the powerhouse it was built to be.
    — StackCommerce Team, PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of engineered
Verb
  • People walking on the boardwalk narrowly evaded getting hit, with one woman jumping over the railing just in time before the car sped by.
    — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • However, the league’s investigation into the Clippers put the deal on hold after it was alleged that the Clippers evaded the salary cap while signing Leonard to a $103 million free agent deal in July 2019.
    — Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of evaded
Verb
  • While companies can license those characters for interactive experiences — one hypothetical Thomson offered was a Waymo with the voice of Prime — those can’t be manipulated in the way many unauthorized clips of Hasbro characters have been.
    — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • One potential reason floated to Semafor by market participants is that compute futures could be manipulated to show a sharp drop in the cost of older chips, which might destabilize AI stocks and debt markets.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of manipulated
Verb
  • Tommy Nance escaped a jam in the eighth, and Travis Adams retired the side in order in the ninth for his third save.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Tommy Nance escaped a jam in the eighth and Travis Adams retired the side in order in the ninth for his third save.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of escaped
Verb
  • Dogan deliberately arranged for Salah’s medical to take place in the metropolis of Istanbul, over 500 miles (nearly 900km) from Trabzon, so the Egyptian could see how frenzied the welcome would be.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • On Sunday, the Lime Rock Concours and Gathering of the Marques display nearly 1,000 enthusiast cars and motorcycles arranged around the Lime Rock circuit.
    — Mark Maglio, Hartford Courant, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of arranged
Verb
  • Experts have given it some thought FOR SUBSCRIBERSA mother and daughter plotted to poison a husband, officials say.
    — Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Bespoke Investment Group has plotted the Nasdaq Composite since ChatGPT was released against the index following the introduction of Netscape in 1994.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of plotted

Browse Nearby Words

finesse
finessed
finesses
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Finessed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finessed. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
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 volition

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
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
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All