1
as in to negotiate
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
let me look at my schedule and see if I can't finagle a visit to the museum
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to cheat
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal
she'll finagle until she gets exactly what she wants
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of finagle
Others have been dreading it—and would happily finagle a deal with the universe to skip to some other day four years down the road instead.
—
Angela Haupt, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025
Ruby even somehow finagles AJ’s ultimate true crime fixation, Amanda Knox, into meeting AJ for dinner.
—Scarlett Harris, IndieWire, 21 Dec. 2024
Shapiro and his business partner, Jeff Franklin, finagled a deal with New York’s fledgling USA Network to supply two hours of content a night, which eventually turned into eight; the network would split the advertising revenue with them 50/50, at $300 for a 30-second slot.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 9 Dec. 2024
The lawsuit would drag on for years before a judge ruled, in 2022, that Lynch had indeed finagled the true value of Autonomy.
—airmail.news, 19 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Angela Haupt, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025
Ruby even somehow finagles AJ’s ultimate true crime fixation, Amanda Knox, into meeting AJ for dinner.
—Scarlett Harris, IndieWire, 21 Dec. 2024
Shapiro and his business partner, Jeff Franklin, finagled a deal with New York’s fledgling USA Network to supply two hours of content a night, which eventually turned into eight; the network would split the advertising revenue with them 50/50, at $300 for a 30-second slot.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 9 Dec. 2024
The lawsuit would drag on for years before a judge ruled, in 2022, that Lynch had indeed finagled the true value of Autonomy.
—airmail.news, 19 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagle
Verb
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The manufacturing giant had resumed negotiating with the IAM union on May 22.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
25 May 2025
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But as state lawmakers negotiate the first state operating budget since the prison was shuttered, Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is proposing that Stateville receive nearly as much funding as when the maximum security section of the facility was open.—
Olivia Olander,
Chicago Tribune,
23 May 2025
Verb
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The responsibility and reasoning behind infidelity lie solely with the person who cheated.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
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After reconciling, the former couple still faced several challenges, including cheating allegations and public social media fallouts.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
30 May 2025
Verb
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At Emery’s request, the club arranged a warm-weather camp in Dubai during the March international break, including a couple of friendlies against local teams.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
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Clinics often arrange hotel stays and local transfers.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
28 May 2025
Verb
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Attackers can design prompts that insert malicious instructions through seemingly innocent prompts, manipulate the model to reset its understanding of its role or subtly influence the model's output by feeding misleading information or context.—
Etay Maor,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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All platforms manipulate users to keep them scrolling.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Finagle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagle. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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