finesse.
A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation.
Meaning & usage
A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation.
The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill.
An adroit maneuver.
In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English finesse (“a degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“a fineness; a delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin fīnis (“an end”); compare Middle English fīn (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something). The verb is derived from the noun.
To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem.
To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem. To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way.
To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem. To obtain something from someone through trickery or manipulation.
To attempt to win a trick by finessing.
To play (a card) as a finesse.
To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English finesse (“a degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“a fineness; a delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin fīnis (“an end”); compare Middle English fīn (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something). The verb is derived from the noun.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.