FINESSING Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

finessing

verb

present participle of finesse

as in negotiating

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in avoiding

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 finessing But respect to Doja for finessing the fine points. — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025 This picks up any holding with both an honor and the nine onside, which outweighs the alternative play of finessing the 10. — Deb Harvell, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2025 The race to dominate the humanoid robotics market is as much about harvesting 3D data as finessing the nuts and bolts. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 9 Oct. 2025 Trump has a rare and underestimated talent for finessing these internal fissures. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2026 But no amount of finessing the Beetle—the automotive equivalent of a Birkenstock sandal—would turn VW’s ugly duckling into a swan. — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 26 Sep. 2025 In traditional builds, this allows your PCI Express cards to be inserted straight down into the slot, rather than tilting the card and finessing its bracket through a rear-panel hole. — PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2025 This being Nantucket, the team contended with stringent zoning regulations governing building footprints, rooflines, and window heights; finessing the layout felt like expert-level Tetris. — David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 8 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for finessing

Verb

The board’s approval of his hire means that the government can begin negotiating his salary and benefits.

— Sofi Zeman July 2, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2026
Vahidi has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States, experts say.

— Nasser Karimi, Fortune, 3 July 2026

Definition of negotiating

Verb

This is by no means the first time that HAARP has been accused of controlling or manipulating the weather.

— Emma Woollacott, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
After Cape Fear anchors us in those assurances, the men’s enmity continues manipulating our expectations and our beliefs.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Definition of manipulating

Verb

The suspect, 30‑year‑old Trevion Mark of Fort Worth, was arrested nearby without incident and charged with reckless endangerment and evading arrest in a motor vehicle, according to DPS.

— Doug Myers, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Mark was charged with reckless endangerment and evading arrest in a motor vehicle and booked into the Tarrant County Jail.

— Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026

Definition of evading

Verb

All these plans acknowledge the experience gap, namely that training without arranging relevant work experience is often futile.

— Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Among DeJohn’s hobbies were flower arranging, collecting anything blue and white, gardening, and decorating.

— Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 2 July 2026

Definition of arranging

Verb

The combination remained effective because escaping both antibodies required multiple simultaneous mutations rather than a single genetic change.

— William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Workers were able to prevent more than 1,000 other monkeys at the facility from escaping.

— Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026

Definition of escaping

Verb

Sources tell OutKick that Pitaro backed Mark Jones in 2020 when Jones falsely accused police officers of plotting to shoot him.

— Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
Lively accused Baldoni in December 2024 of harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us and subsequently plotting a smear campaign against her.

— Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2026

Definition of plotting

Verb

Most of the failures the industry is currently calling AI failures are engineering failures with AI on top.

— Valentyn Kropov, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Moving to a new process node takes a lot of work, from identifying suitable materials to engineering new lithography tools to achieving sufficient yield of usable chips from the assembly line.

— Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 26 June 2026

Definition of engineering

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finesses

finessing

finest

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“Finessing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finessing. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of finessing

verb

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