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finesse

 - 3 dictionary results

fi⋅nesse

  [fi-ness] noun, verb, -nessed, -ness⋅ing.
Use finesse in a Sentence
–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 fine 1 , -ice

Synonyms:
1, 2. tact, diplomacy, savoir faire, circumspection, sensitivity, sensibility.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To finesse
fi·nesse   (fə-něs')   
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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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
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