finesse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
Lalo’s prominent violin part was played at the gala with impressive finesse by Hilary Hahn as guest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 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
I’m about to tell him that seven is still a baby but then I remember about finesse so all I say is, I’ll be eleven next month.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
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
At one table, Kit Woolsey of Kensington, Calif., a three-time world champion, took two diamond finesses.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 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
Over the years, the honed and finessed those skills.
From BBC ● May 22, 2025
Many California hotels have finessed the issue by restricting children’s access without banning them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2025
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
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
So it’s a pleasure to report that actor-turned-filmmaker Matthew Shear, with his debut feature “Fantasy Life,” shows a facility for finessing a meal that lands the last bite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
They spend their summers on this 140m stretch, finessing their starts and building their bodies in the gym for the winters ahead.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
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
If A did not know that Z held the king, he ought yet to play the queen third in hand, on the chance that Z held the king; this would be finessing the queen.
From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Louis Hoffmann
Vocabulary lists containing finesse
Trumps
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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This Week in Pop Culture: February 2 - 8, 2019
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