finesse

The mayor said he has played pickup basketball at city courts, including at Brooklyn Bridge Park, but acknowledges his style lacks finesse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

The center, to the chagrin of many in the NBA, has long been known more for his finesse touch shots than physical play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

But what he might lack in rhetorical finesse, he more than has in job experience, as least as defined by Trump.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026

In their briefings, government lawyers finesse a sanitized version into a clean narrative of law-abiding responsibility.

From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2026

I was blown away by their finesse; they could take the tip of their blade and hit their target with such precision.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Soft and supple, it finesses the line between elegance and heft.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021

Black bass are good on spinners, crankbaits, and green pumpkin finesses plastic worms in 12-18’ fishing deeper docks, main lake points with near timber, drop-offs, and points.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2020

Grant attempts two tricky maneuvers with “Harpoon” and, for the most part, finesses them both.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2019

After two diamond finesses, declarer’s diamond ace dropped East’s king.

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2014

Hoagland would say that now was the time for playing certain finesses, that in the wake of the activity arose those moments that could be manipulated.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Berkshire does own about $60 billion of Apple stock, but that issue likely could be finessed to get Cook.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

It’s a mammalian innovation, honed and finessed in the latter stages of the Mesozoic era, the so-called Age of Reptiles.

From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2024

In bright, airy studios in London and Malibu, they finessed what would become Lipa’s most ambitious — and euphoric-sounding — record to date.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

The question is whether it matters if an international team's top players are finessed in another country - or in Welsh rugby's case, by their biggest rival.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023

UC Berkeley’s medical school would not get over its disdain for John’s studies for years, until the situation was finessed by the creation of a separate laboratory for radiation science in 1942.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

They’ve tested concepts on stage that haven’t worked; sometimes comedians themselves have realized their act needs more finessing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

With enough time and imagination, kickers and equipment managers are capable of finessing footballs in ways that make them soar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

The outreach requires finessing complex legal and diplomatic disputes that have long poisoned ties, but, as the court cases demonstrated, history hangs heavy over the relationship.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 22, 2023

There is no leveraging, cajoling, or finessing the calculations of thrust, the pressure inside the cryogenic tanks, or the behavior of a 165-foot-long spaceship attempting a rocket-powered landing.

From National Geographic ● Nov. 18, 2023

I really wish to be polite to H.E., but how can I say that I think he was justified in finessing his deficit and playing surpluses?

From Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series by Aberigh-Mackay, George Robert