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finesse

extreme delicacy in performance; skill; adroitness; trick or stratagem; skill in handling a highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management: exceptional diplomatic finesse

Not to be confused with:

fineness – state of being fine; superior quality; proportion of pure precious metal in an alloy: The fineness of the diamond was extraordinary.

fi·nesse

(fə-nĕs′)

1. Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution, or artisanship.

2. Skillful, subtle handling of a situation; tactful, diplomatic maneuvering.

3. A method of leading up to a tenace, as in bridge, in order to prevent an opponent from winning the trick with an intermediate card.

4. A stratagem in which one appears to decline an advantage.

v. fi·nessed, fi·ness·ing, fi·ness·es

v.tr.

1. To accomplish by the use of finesse.

2. To handle with a deceptive or evasive strategy.

3. To play (a card) as a finesse.

v.intr.

1. To use finesse.

2. To make a finesse in cards.

[French, fineness, subtlety, from fin, fine; see fine¹.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

finesse

(fɪˈnɛs)

1. elegant skill in style or performance

2. subtlety and tact in handling difficult situations

3. (Card Games) bridge whist an attempt to win a trick when opponents hold a high card in the suit led by playing a lower card, hoping the opponent who has already played holds the missing card

4. a trick, artifice, or strategy

5. to manage or bring about with finesse

6. (Card Games) to play (a card) as a finesse

[C15: from Old French, from fin fine, delicate; see fine¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fi•nesse

(fɪˈnɛss)

n., v. -nessed, -ness•ing. n.

1. extreme delicacy or subtlety in performance, skill, discrimination, etc.

2. skill and adroitness in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation.

3. a trick, artifice, or stratagem.

4. an attempt to win a trick in bridge with a card lower than one in an opponent's hand.

v.i.

5. to use finesse or artifice.

6. to make a finesse at cards.

v.t.

7. to bring about by finesse or artifice.

8. to avoid; circumvent.

9. to make a finesse with (a card).

10. to force the playing of (a card) by a finesse.

[1400–50; late Middle English: degree of excellence or purity < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *fīnitia. See fine¹, -ice]

finesse

Past participle: finessed
Gerund: finessing

Imperative
finesse
finesse

Present
I finesse
you finesse
he/she/it finesses
we finesse
you finesse
they finesse

Preterite
I finessed
you finessed
he/she/it finessed
we finessed
you finessed
they finessed

Present Continuous
I am finessing
you are finessing
he/she/it is finessing
we are finessing
you are finessing
they are finessing

Present Perfect
I have finessed
you have finessed
he/she/it has finessed
we have finessed
you have finessed
they have finessed

Past Continuous
I was finessing
you were finessing
he/she/it was finessing
we were finessing
you were finessing
they were finessing

Past Perfect
I had finessed
you had finessed
he/she/it had finessed
we had finessed
you had finessed
they had finessed

Future
I will finesse
you will finesse
he/she/it will finesse
we will finesse
you will finesse
they will finesse

Future Perfect
I will have finessed
you will have finessed
he/she/it will have finessed
we will have finessed
you will have finessed
they will have finessed

Future Continuous
I will be finessing
you will be finessing
he/she/it will be finessing
we will be finessing
you will be finessing
they will be finessing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been finessing
you have been finessing
he/she/it has been finessing
we have been finessing
you have been finessing
they have been finessing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been finessing
you will have been finessing
he/she/it will have been finessing
we will have been finessing
you will have been finessing
they will have been finessing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been finessing
you had been finessing
he/she/it had been finessing
we had been finessing
you had been finessing
they had been finessing

Conditional
I would finesse
you would finesse
he/she/it would finesse
we would finesse
you would finesse
they would finesse

Past Conditional
I would have finessed
you would have finessed
he/she/it would have finessed
we would have finessed
you would have finessed
they would have finessed

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

finesse

noun

1. skill, style, know-how (informal), polish, craft, diplomacy, discretion, sophistication, subtlety, delicacy, tact, cleverness, quickness, savoir-faire, adroitness, artfulness, adeptness handling diplomatic challenges with finesse

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

finesse

verb

1. To make, achieve, or get through contrivance or guile:

2. To outmaneuver (an opponent), especially with the aid of some extra resource:

Translations

أناقَه

obratnost

diplomatidygtighedsnilde

finesz

fágun, snilli, kunnátta

diplomatiškumas

smalkumstaktiskums

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

finesse

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

finesse

(fines) noun

cleverness and skill in dealing with a situation etc. She managed that situation with great finesse.