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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to cheat
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal
she'll finagle until she gets exactly what she wants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of finagle
Even for the wealthiest colleges, temporarily upping annual endowment spending could require a bit of finagling.
—
Emma Whitford, Forbes, 3 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Emma Whitford, Forbes, 3 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagle
Verb
-
The deal was negotiated by VP of Sales and Acquisitions Alex Peters on behalf of Brainstorm and by Christian Sosa of Roosevelt Film Lab.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
6 June 2025
-
Here’s the thing, no employee should be left to negotiate basic dignity on their own.—
Aparna Rae,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Verb
-
Trouble is, the elder Broadway managed to cheat St. Christopher out of his share of the plunder.—
Joe Leydon,
Variety,
13 June 2025
-
Iran's response: cheating and hiding its nuclear weapons program; sprinting toward a bomb; and trying to assassinate senior American officials, including President Trump.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
Verb
-
The park hosts various stargazing events, and larger groups can arrange hour-long astronomy programs (pending staff availability).—
Lydia Mansel,
Southern Living,
8 June 2025
-
Fun fact: Cohen arranged the casting contract for his former Goonies costar Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).—
Sarah Weldon,
EW.com,
7 June 2025
Verb
-
Not possessed of any special abilities, Achebe instead manipulates his ways into political power in Wakanda.—
Michileen Martin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
-
Deepfakes are manipulated images, audio recordings, or videos of real people that have been altered with artificial intelligence to misrepresent someone as saying or doing something that the person did not actually say or do.—
Alain Sherter,
CBS News,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Finagle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagle. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share