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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
fi·nesse    Audio Help   [fi-ness] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -nessed, -ness·ing.
–noun
1.extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.
2.skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management: exceptional diplomatic finesse.
3.a trick, artifice, or stratagem.
4.Bridge, Whist. an attempt to win a trick with a card while holding a higher card not in sequence with it, in the hope that the card or cards between will not be played.
–verb (used without object)
5.to use finesse or artifice.
6.to make a finesse at cards.
–verb (used with object)
7.to bring about by finesse or artifice.
8.to avoid; circumvent.
9.to make a finesse with (a card).
10.to force the playing of (a card) by a finesse.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME: degree of excellence or purity < MF < VL *fīnitia. See fine1, -ice]

1, 2. tact, diplomacy, savoir faire, circumspection, sensitivity, sensibility.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
finesse

To learn more about finesse visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fi·nesse    Audio Help   (fə-něs')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution, or artisanship.
  2. Skillful, subtle handling of a situation; tactful, diplomatic maneuvering.
  3. A method of leading up to a tenace, as in bridge, in order to prevent an opponent from winning the trick with an intermediate card.
  4. A stratagem in which one appears to decline an advantage.

v.   fi·nessed, fi·ness·ing, fi·ness·es

v.   tr.
  1. To accomplish by the use of finesse.
  2. To handle with a deceptive or evasive strategy.
  3. To play (a card) as a finesse.

v.   intr.
  1. To use finesse.
  2. To make a finesse in cards.


[French, fineness, subtlety, from fin, fine; see fine1.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
finesse 
1528, from M.Fr. finesse "fineness, subtlety," from O.Fr. fin "subtle, delicate" (see fine (adj.)). The verb is first attested 1746.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
finesse

noun
subtly skillful handling of a situation [syn: delicacy

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
finesse [fines] noun
cleverness and skill in dealing with a situation etc
Example: She managed that situation with great finesse.
Arabic: أناقَه
Chinese (Simplified): 手腕,技巧, 策略
Chinese (Traditional): 手腕,技巧
Czech: obratnost
Danish: snilde; diplomati; dygtighed
Dutch: finesse
Estonian: osavus
Finnish: taidokkuus
French: finesse
German: die Schlauheit
Greek: διπλωματία, διπλωματικότητα
Hungarian: fortély, finesz
Icelandic: fágun, snilli, kunnátta
Indonesian: kecerdikan
Italian: finezza
Japanese: 手ぎわのよさ
Korean: 수완, 빼어난 솜씨
Latvian: smalkums; taktiskums
Lithuanian: taktas, diplomatiškumas
Norwegian: behendighet, listighet
Polish: finezja
Portuguese (Brazil): finura
Portuguese (Portugal): subtileza
Romanian: fineţe
Russian: деликатность
Slovak: obratnosť
Slovenian: spretnost
Spanish: delicadeza
Swedish: finess
Turkish: ustalık, maharet
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Finesse

Fi`nesse"\ (? or ?), n. [F., fr. fin fine. See Fine, a.]

1. Subtilty of contrivance to gain a point; artifice; stratagem.

This is the artificialest piece of finesse to persuade men into slavery. --Milton.

2. (Whist Playing) The act of finessing. See Finesse, v. i., 2.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Finesse

Fi`nesse"\ (? or ?), n. [F., fr. fin fine. See Fine, a.]

1. Subtilty of contrivance to gain a point; artifice; stratagem.

This is the artificialest piece of finesse to persuade men into slavery. --Milton.

2. (Whist Playing) The act of finessing. See Finesse, v. i., 2.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

FINESSE

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