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
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Recent Examples of finagling
Try finagling these parts out, or read the manual for your model to see if this is an option.
—
Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
That's a reasonable take, but getting to the point of expanding the postseason once again is going to take some finagling at this time.
—Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Other songs are less terminally online and more reminiscent of finagling fake IDs and getting blitzed on the LES.
—Lydia Wei, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
That's a reasonable take, but getting to the point of expanding the postseason once again is going to take some finagling at this time.
—Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Other songs are less terminally online and more reminiscent of finagling fake IDs and getting blitzed on the LES.
—Lydia Wei, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagling
Verb
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Trump negotiating a settlement to his own lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that would set up the compensation fund for those perceived to be wrongly prosecuted — proved too toxic for the Senate to bear.—
Joey Cappelletti,
Chicago Tribune,
22 May 2026
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News reports would later surface that Keenan was negotiating with the Detroit Red Wings during the Rangers’ playoff run, but Olczyk and many of his teammates had already heard whispers.—
Vincent Z. Mercogliano,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Verb
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And when everyone else in the classroom is a genius, cheating becomes a real option to stay ahead, especially in the sciences.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
13 May 2026
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Kevin appeared to reference his 2017 cheating scandal, which transpired while Eniko was pregnant with their first child.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
12 May 2026
Verb
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The malevolent Sidious put Maul through the wringer, torturing and manipulating him on his path to becoming a fearsome Sith Lord.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
19 May 2026
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Kinematic intelligence began with EPFL researchers motion-capturing humans setting, shoving, tossing, and otherwise manipulating objects.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Loo and his family were also in the process of arranging shelter while evacuation orders remain in effect.—
Eric Licas,
Los Angeles Times,
23 May 2026
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Duff-Smith was executed in 1993 for arranging the murder of his mother in 1975.—
Erik Ortiz,
NBC news,
20 May 2026
Verb
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Gold participated in some of the organization’s best cap maneuvering before the 2022-23 season.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
14 May 2026
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Choosing the right clothes and somehow maneuvering them into my bag is half the battle.—
Tanya Sharma,
PEOPLE,
13 May 2026
Verb
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One of the most significant was the hurdle of engineering the enclave to harmonize with nature to resist the wrath of disasters, says Syd Kitson, founder and visionary behind Babcock Ranch.—
Jeffrey Steele,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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The last time the 49ers won a road game against Atlanta was the 2012 NFC Championship Game (28-24) with Colin Kaepernick engineering a comeback that put them in the Super Bowl.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
14 May 2026
Verb
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But soon the 50-year-old character actor will be joining the DCU and plotting to conquer and collect the world as Brainiac, the villain of James Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
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An Iraqi man accused of orchestrating nearly 20 terrorist attacks across Europe and plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States has been brought to New York to face federal terrorism charges after what the FBI described as a major international operation.—
Louis Casiano , Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finagling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagling. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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