Finesse

Definition: Finesse

Finesse

Noun

1. Subtly skillful handling of a situation.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "finesse" was first used: 1528. (references)

Food & Agriculture

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Finesse

Cunning

Verb: be cunning; Adjective: have cut one's eyeteeth; contrive; (plan); live by one's wits; maneuver; intrigue, gerrymander, finesse, double, temporize, stoop to conquer, reculer pour mieux sauter, circumvent, steal a march upon; overreach; throw off one's guard; surprise; snatch a verdict; waylay, undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge; play a deep game, play tricks with; ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces; flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.

Art, artifice; device, machination; plot; (plan); maneuver, stratagem, dodge, sidestep, artful dodge, wile; trick, trickery; (deception); ruse, ruse de guerre; finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go by, subterfuge, evasion; white lie; (untruth); juggle, tour de force; tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers; espieglerie; net, trap.

Skill

Knowledge of the world, world wisdom, savoir faire; tact; mother wit; (sagacity); discretion; (caution); finesse; craftiness; (cunning); management; (conduct); self-help.

Taste

Noun: taste; good taste, refined taste, cultivated taste; delicacy, refinement, fine feeling, gust, gusto, tact, finesse; nicety; (discrimination); gr/to prepon/gr polish, elegance, grace.

Crosswords: Finesse

French (acumen, acuteness, astuteness, craftiness, delicacy, fineness, keenness, neatness, polish, quickness, sharpness, slenderness, suavity, thinness), German (finesse, refinement, trick).

You have to work harder but you do acquire a certain finesse that is missing from the stick-em-up and shoot-them-down school. (Jewel Robbery; writing credit: Bertram Bloch; Ladislas Fodor)

Um, Anya, while I completely trust you to take care of the inventory and the money, dealing with people requires a certain finesse. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)

Because they are only fit to sever the bull necks of their countrymen with a butcher's cleaver. But a woman's neck, a Queen's neck: that calls for finesse, for delicacy, for chivalry in one word, a Frenchman! (The Private Life of Henry VIII; writing credit: Lajos Bir�; Arthur Wimperis)

I got style, finesse, and a little black book ("Rapper's Delight"; performing artist: Sugarhill Gang)

I said, You need a man man who's got finesse ("Rapper's Delight"; performing artist: Sugarhill Gang)

Fox Trot Finesse (1915)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Finesse 'Em: How to Get What You Want Without a Sledgehammer (reference)

• Fire Away: Fielding Tough Questions with Finesse (reference)

• Paddles!: The Foibles and Finesse of One World War II Landing Signal Officer (reference)

• The Art of Fielding Questions With Finesse (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• Finesse (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Music

• Todd Oxford: Finesse (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Finesse.Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Economic History

India

They must finesse to assure success on both these fronts; must be prepared to furnish substantial information; and patiently refute misleading allegations. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Ending with "finesse": high-finesse.

Albanian

finesë (nicety, refinement, subtlety), zgjuarsi (ability, acuteness, aptness, artfulness, cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, intelligence, mind, readiness, sagacity, shrewdness, smartness, wit), veproj me finesë, përdor shkathtësinë, mjeshtëri (accomplishment, art, artifice, artistry, experience, expertise, hand, handicraft, masterliness, mastership, mastery, neatness, profession, proficiency, skill, workmanship), dredhi (art, artifice, cop out, dodge, duplicity, gimmick, guile, machination, overreach, pass, ploy, subterfuge, trick, trickery, wangle, wile, wiliness). (various references)

Arabic 

‏حيلة (artifice, deceit, device, dodge, expedient, fetch, fraud, gag, imposition, makeshift, monkey business, ploy, prank, ruse, sleight, stalking horse, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, twist, wile), ‏إحتال (cheat, do, gull, gyp, pluck, trick, victimize, wangle, work), ‏إصطنع الحيلة, ‏رقة (airiness, benignity, daintiness, delicacy, fineness, flimsiness, forgiveness, geniality, gentleness, graciousness, loveliness, neatness, polish, refinement, sensitiveness, sensitivity, sleeplessness, softness, suavity, subtlety, tenderling, tenderness, tenuity, tenuousness, thinness), ‏دهاء (artfulness, craft, cunning, fineness, guile, malignity, maneuver, manoeuvre, ploy, resource, sagacity, sharpness, slyness, wit), ‏دقة (accuracy, closeness, delicacy, exactitude, exactness, fidelity, fineness, fussiness, nicety, preciseness, precision, promptitude, punctuality, refinement, reliability, rigor, rigour, strictness, subtlety, sureness, tenuity, thoroughness, veracity), ‏براعة (address, artfulness, artifice, cleverness, craft, craftiness, cunning, dexterity, facility, hand, ingeniousness, ingenuity, knack, know how, mastery, proficiency, science, skill, skillfulness, sleight of hand, tact, trick, workmanship), ‏ببراعة (ably, adroitly, craftily, facilely, proficiently, wittily, workmanly). (various references)

Bulgarian 

умело действие, хитрувам (dodge, palter), хитрост (archness, art, artfulness, artifice, deceitfulness, device, dodge, game, guile, overreach, policy, ruse, shrewdness, slyness, stratagem, trick), фина изработка, правя импас, постъпвам умело, постъпвам хитро, импас (impasse). (various references)

Chinese 

精良, 手腕 (skill). (various references)

Czech

finesa, vytříbenost, obratnost (adroitness, deftness, dexterity, facility, readiness), dovednost (accomplishment, art, craft, cunning, facility, knack, proficiency, science, skill), šikovnost (dexterity, ingeniousness, sconce). (various references)

Danish

finesse (fineness). (various references)

Dutch

finesse. (various references)

Finnish

finessi, hienous (delicacy, elegance, fineness, thinness). (various references)

French

finesse (fineness), faire l'impasse, impasse, délicatesse (fineness). (various references)

German

finesse (refinement, trick), raffinesse (cleverness, craftiness, cunning, refinement, sophistication, subtlety, wiliness). (various references)

Greek 

φινέτσα. (various references)

Hebrew 

תחבול�" (artifice, expedient, fetch, hatch, machination, mean, ruse, scheme, shift, stratagem, subterfuge, thingumajig thingumabob, trick, wile), ע�"י� ות (daintiness, delicacy, fineness, gentleness, grace, niceness, refinement, softness, subtlety, tenderness), כשרון וטקט. (various references)

Hungarian

szépség (beaut, beauty, Belle, bloom, fairness, fineness, finery, niceness, pulchritude), ravaszság (acuity, acuteness, artifice, astuteness, canniness, craftiness, cunning, cuteness, disingenuousness, foxiness, guile, knowingness, shrewdness, slyness, wile, wiliness), impassz, fortély (cunning, deception, dodge, expedient, guile, hanky-panky, knack, ruse, shift, stratagem, subterfuge, wile, wiliness), finesz. (various references)

Italian

finezza (acuteness, fineness, nicety, thinness). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

技巧 (technique). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ぎ�"う (craft, craftsman, technique), け�"ぼうじゅっすう (Machiavellism, trickery, wiles). (various references)

Manx

glickys (cuteness, sharpness, smartness). (various references)

Pig Latin

inessefay

Portuguese

finura (daintiness, fineness, subtlety, tact, tenderness, tenuity), vestuário berrante, sutileza (acuity, acuteness, exility, subtlety), manha (craftiness, jiggery pokery, malice, ruse, slyness, trickery, vice, whim), estratagema (artifice, coup, craftiness, device, elusive, feint, fetch, fraud, maneuver, manoeuvre, ruse, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, trickery, wile), delicadeza (comity, consideration, courtesy, daintiness, delicacy, fineness, mannerliness, niceness, nicety, respect, suavity, tenderness, urbanity), adorno (adornment, attire, braid, embroidery, facing, finery, garniture, ornament, set off, tire). (various references)

Romanian

fineţe (delicacy, fineness, nicety, refinement, subtlety), face un impas, viclenie (archness, artfulness, astuteness, catch, contrivance, craft, cunning, devilry, fraud, guile, ruse, shift, subtlety, vicleim, wile), tact (address, bar, tact), subtilitate (acuteness, exility, fineness, nicety, refinement, sagacity, shrewdness, subtlety), se eschiva de la (shirk, steer clear of smth.), impas (blind alley, deadlock, dilemma, extremity, impasse, loss, no go, nonplus), evita (avoid, balk, baulk, berth, by pass, clear, dodge, elide, elude, escape, eschew, evade, fly, forbear, keep from, Parry, pass off, put off, save, shun, spare), şiretenie (artfulness, artifice, craft, craftiness, cunning, guile, pawkiness, slyness), abilitate (ability, address, adroitness, aptness, art, cleverness, competence, craft, cunning, deftness, genius, knack, resourcefulness, skill, talent). (various references)

Russian 

ухищрение (subterfuge), тонкость (exility, fine point, fineness, shrewdness, subtleness, subtlety, thinness, twists and turns), ловкость (address, adroitness, agility, artfulness, cleverness, craft, deftness, dexterity, hand, knack, light hand, shiftiness, sleight, smartness). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

finesa. (various references)

Spanish

sutileza (niceness, nicety, quibble, quiddity, subtlety), finura (discrimination, fineness, finicalness, grace, lovableness, niceness, nicety, refinement, suavity, subtlety). (various references)

Swedish

finess (delicacy, feature, gadget, shtick, tact). (various references)

Turkish

fines, ustalık (art, artfulness, craftsmanship, deftness, dexterity, expertness, facility, feat, hand, handiness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, knack, masterliness, mastership, mastery, perfection, proficiency, skill, sleight, subtility, subtlety, virtuosity, wizardry, workmanship), kurnazlık (archness, art, artfulness, artifice, arts, astuteness, craftiness, cunning, dodge, foxiness, guile, shenanigan, shiftiness, slyness, smartness, stratagem, strategy, subtility, subtlety, trick, wheeler-dealing, wheeling and dealing, wiliness, wrinkle), incelik (civility, courtesy, daintiness, delicacy, discretion, elaborateness, fineness, fragility, grace, gracefulness, keenness, niceness, nicety, point, polish, politeness, refinement, slenderness, slightness, slimness, subtility, subtlety, tact, thinness, touch), hile (adulteration, artifice, arts, canard, catch, cheat, cheating, chicane, cobweb, collusion, craft, cross, deceit, deception, decoy, device, do, dodge, doubling, dupery, duplicity, fake, false pretences, false pretenses, flam, flimflam, fraud, gadget, gaff, gambit, gammon, gimmick, gouge, hanky panky, have, have on, hocus pocus, hokey-pokey, hoky-poky, humbug, imposture, jiggery pokery, maneuver, manipulation, manoeuvre, plant, ploy, practice, pretense, rig, rigging, rip off, ruse, sell, sham, sleight of hand, slyness, subterfuge, tortuosity, trick, trickery, wheeling and dealing, wile), beceri (ability, accomplishment, accomplishments, address, adroitness, art, artfulness, artifice, attainments, craft, cunning, deftness, dexterity, faculty, feat, ingeniousness, ingenuity, knack, know how, resource, savoir faire, science, skill, sleight, wizardry). (various references)

Ukranian 

хитрість (archness, artfulness, artifice, astuteness, catch, craft, craftiness, cunning, foxery, overreach, pawk, ploy, sharpness, sleight, stealth, trick, trickery, wiliness), тонкість (delicacy, fineness, polish, quiddity, quillet, subtlety), тактовність (delicacy, tact, taste), майстерність (address, art, craft, craftsmanship, cunning, feat, handicraft, mastership, mastery, neatness, proficiency, skill, workmanship). (various references)

Vietnamese 

sự phân biệt tế nhị mưu mẹo, sự khéo léo (adroitness, craftsmanship, deftness, delicacy, dexterity, savoir faire, skill), mánh khoé (astute, craft, fetch, trick, wangle). (various references)

fin. (various references)

finesse. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "finesse": finessed, finesses. (additional references)

Words containing "finesse": fluffinesses, goofinesses, huffinesses, iffinesses, puffinesses, scruffinesses, sniffinesses, spiffinesses, stuffinesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Finesse" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Fenestre, Fennessy, Fimeche, finese, finess, finness, finnesse, finse, Fliessen, iffiness, inese, inesse. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: seines.

-2 letters: fesse, fines, neifs, seifs, seine, seise, sense, sines.

-3 letters: eses, fees, fens, fess, fine, fins, neif, ness, seen, sees, seif, seis, sene, sine, sins.

-4 letters: efs, ens, ess, fee, fen, fie, fin, ifs, ins, nee, see, sei, sen, sin, sis.

-5 letters: ef, en, es, if, in, is, ne, si.

+1 letter: fineness, finessed, finesses, rifeness.

+2 letters: briefness, densifies, feminises, fetidness, fieriness, fitnesses, fixedness, heftiness, infesters, reinfuses.

+3 letters: bonefishes, defensives, facileness, fairnesses, feistiness, fervidness, festinates, fickleness, fierceness, finenesses, finiteness, firestones, firmnesses, fleshiness, foxinesses, fozinesses, freakiness, friendless, futileness, giftedness, iffinesses, interfuses, misdefines, offensives, refinishes, refuseniks, resinifies, rifenesses, spinifexes, stiffeners, stoneflies, unsafeties, wifeliness.

+4 letters: angelfishes, briefnesses, diffuseness, disbenefits, disinfested, faintnesses, fancinesses, fattinesses, feelingness, fertileness, festiveness, fetidnesses, fictiveness, fidgetiness, fieldstones, fierinesses, filminesses, fixednesses, flakinesses, floweriness, fluidnesses, foaminesses, fogginesses, foreignness, forgiveness, frailnesses, franchisees, funkinesses, funninesses, furtiveness, fussinesses, fustinesses, fuzzinesses, goofinesses, heftinesses, huffinesses, intensifies, loftinesses, manifesters, manifestoes, misfeasance, personifies, puffinesses, refinishers, refurnishes, selfishness, solemnifies, stiffnesses, stonefishes, swiftnesses, unfitnesses.

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