What does finessing mean

Send us feedback. See more words from the same century. Accessed 11 Nov. Nglish: Translation of finesse for Spanish Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Essential Meaning of finesse. She handled the interview questions with finesse. Full Definition of finesse Entry 1 of 2. Definition of finesse Entry 2 of 2.

There is a great distinction between finesse as a verb and to be finessed. When you are finessing something you are doing it precisely and applying all your pedantic nature. To be finessed means that someone is doing the same to you. To finesse means doing the action, to be finessed means that you are the object of the action. Finesse can be used on inanimate objects, as well as on people.

You can finesse a situation with a person , or use finesse to assemble a watch. Charm , on the other hand, is used exclusively for people and animals.

To charm means to get someone on your side. You can charm people, as well as charm animals like cats, dogs, snakes, etc. Finesse and delicacy are synonyms. You can use finesse, or be delicate, in any situation that requires it.

To get finessed is similar to being finessed. It implies that someone is tricking you, or using finesse to make you do what they want. Finesse and skill are not mutually exclusive. Finesse can be part of a skill , and one of your skills can be your strong finesse.

They are not , however, interchangeable. While they can be part of one another they are not synonyms.

Finesse describes a certain action. Fineness describes a thing that is extremely fine, or delicate. Finesse is a noun, verb, or adverb. Fineness is exclusively an adjective. These are two different types of fishing. Finesse fishing is used to tackle designated targets, and catch very specific fish. Power fishing is used to cover multiple levels of fish, and catch as many as possible.

Ultimately, something as important as that cannot be finessed. From the Hansard archive. Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3. The targets need to be finessed and changed as we jointly gain more experience. And about half of these wanted the annuity rules finessed rather than abolished. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web.

Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Browse fineness. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day sweetheart. Blog Outsets and onsets! Read More. To make a finesse in cards. Adroitness and delicacy of performance. The ability to handle delicate and difficult situations skillfully and diplomatically.

Cunning; skill; artfulness; craft. To manage, bring about, or deal with by finesse. To evade or bypass a problem, issue, etc. To use finesse or make a finesse.

To handle or manage carefully or skillfully. A stratagem in which one appears to decline an advantage.