finesse
verb/fɪˈnes/
/fɪˈnes/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they finesse | /fɪˈnes/ /fɪˈnes/ |
| he / she / it finesses | /fɪˈnesɪz/ /fɪˈnesɪz/ |
| past simple finessed | /fɪˈnest/ /fɪˈnest/ |
| past participle finessed | /fɪˈnest/ /fɪˈnest/ |
| -ing form finessing | /fɪˈnesɪŋ/ /fɪˈnesɪŋ/ |
- finesse something (especially North American English) to deal with something in a way that is clever but slightly dishonest
- to finesse a deal
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- finesse something to do something with a lot of skill or style
- Only a few top players are able to finesse a victory in such a situation.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘purity, delicacy’): from French, related to fine ‘of high quality’.
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finesse