finesse - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: finesse

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

]

—Synonyms 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

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fi·nesse Audio Help (fə-něs') Pronunciation Key
n.

Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution, or artisanship.
Skillful, subtle handling of a situation; tactful, diplomatic maneuvering.
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.
A stratagem in which one appears to decline an advantage.

v. fi·nessed, fi·ness·ing, fi·ness·es

v. tr.

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

v. intr.

To use finesse.
To make a finesse in cards.

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

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

finesse
noun
subtly skillful handling of a situation [syn: delicacy]

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