1
as in negotiating
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cheating
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal
she'll finagle until she gets exactly what she wants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagling
Verb
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Traditional approaches focus on financial engineering such as negotiating discounts for long-term commitments, or on observability tools that track who is running what.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025 -
The Teamsters announced on Facebook late Friday that their negotiating team has a tentative agreement for members to vote on, ending the strike and allowing next weekend’s Farm Aid concert to continue as planned at the U’s Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.—
Kristi Miller,
Twin Cities,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The type of state where he’s been found guilty of cheating cheating, and she’s been found guilty of emotionally cheating.—
Victoria Uwumarogie,
Essence,
19 Sep. 2025
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You guys have been dealing with the fallout of this cheating scandal for three years.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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His powers included manipulating fire, engulfing his body in flames, superhuman strength and flying.—
Olivia Singh,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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Sanders, in a motion to the court, accused the initial prosecutor in the case, Tony Rackauckas, of manipulating evidence dealing with jailhouse informants.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Foster a culture of inclusion, for example, by arranging monthly or quarterly get-togethers between your in-house team and your freelancers.—
Jessica Wong,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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Martha Stewart suggests using half of the pristine pecan halves on top of the filling, arranging them in concentric circles.—
Cathy Thomas,
Oc Register,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The system’s continuous modernization reflects the shifting nature of naval warfare, where adversaries are increasingly fielding maneuvering anti-ship missiles, drone swarms, and asymmetric maritime threats.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Sep. 2025
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For now, the field remains divided, with candidates maneuvering to prove their loyalty to Trump while Kemp tries to assert his influence.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Rather than engineering microorganisms to speed up methane consumption, Stein values working with naturally occurring microbes and ecosystems.—
Katherine Bourzac,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
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The Animal Crossing decompilation community had just finished reverse-engineering the game's source code, providing readable C instead of PowerPC assembly.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Legal woes Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was just convicted of plotting to overturn an election and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.—
Daniel Wine,
CNN Money,
17 Sep. 2025
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In 2022, in Los Angeles, political leaders were exposed for plotting to carve up districts in backroom deals.—
Bernadette Suarez,
Oc Register,
15 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Finagling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagling. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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