finesse

“Where even, contradicting ideas held together at the same time is often just interesting, at the very least, and then you can sort of finesse interesting into funny, at a certain point.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

In each locale, O’Keeffe’s palette and even the vibrancy of her works changed, and in each one her abiding originality, power and finesse as an artist are unmistakable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In the ballet rehearsal, they warm up, they finesse, they practice and pretend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Against Cape Verde, Spain lacked finesse in their passing.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

People tried to defy orders and merge themselves into the functional lines, but without any of the finesse that I would have brought to the endeavor.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

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

From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021

The computers say the mate is now forced but there are a couple of amazing finesses along the way.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 5, 2019

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2019

He suggested that the public had seized too narrowly on the times he deploys, say, the King Cobra Driver, rather than the moments he finesses a Titleist putter.

From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 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

In much the way he finessed a truth about art facing evil in “Poetry,” the camera here is both predatory and a tool for catharsis.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

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

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

Economist Odhiambo Ramogi argues that the move to restrict foreign nationals from businesses is too broad - and could do with finessing.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

And there are some feelings about this show’s return that no amount of script finessing can alter.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

He won the bid on the basis of completing the project in three days but then spent three months finessing the terms of the contract before subcontracting the job.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

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

Much finessing is possible by engaging the enemy on one side of the ground, while a good runner is held in reserve to dash into the enemy's goal on the other side.

From Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft