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
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
Lydia Wei, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finagling
Verb
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No need to worry about repairs, staging, open houses and negotiating.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
1 May 2026
-
As a city that is always negotiating with modernity, the tradition of jol khabar remains a comforting anchor, binding generations to their cultural roots and evoking nostalgia.—
Madhushree Basu Roy,
Saveur,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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When the cheating scandal happened, there was a groundswell of support from fans, a protectiveness over Long as a woman and as a cultural touchstone.—
Zeba Blay,
SELF,
21 Apr. 2026
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Notice something small, then compliment it This one is almost cheating.—
Henna Pryor,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This can involve pretending to be an IT customer support and manipulating an employee at a target company into handing over internal access.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
24 Apr. 2026
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But even then, our team of artists got in there and just started manipulating things.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Clerk-Treasurer Corinne Peffers was also authorized to contact the Barnes & Thornburg law firm as counsel in arranging for a general obligation bond to finance the purchase.—
Jim Woods,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
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Grab a wide and shallow bowl, place a floral frog inside, and start arranging the tulip stems in an organic way.—
Maria Sabella,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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My days were spent successfully hunting for sand dollars and starfish with my sister, crabbing along the Kiawah River, and keeping my eyes peeled for alligators maneuvering between lagoons.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Apr. 2026
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This included altitude changes and maneuvering while maintaining overall mission performance.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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These teams are growing fiber from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in color and creating silk like fibers from compost.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
27 Apr. 2026
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The development solves the long-standing issues of material degradation and leakage (crossover) by re-engineering the iron complex at the molecular level.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After expressing sorrow for having put innocent people in danger by transporting weaponry and plotting to commit an act of violence in a public place, Allen’s letter lays out his list of targets.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
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But the show’s plotting and Niall’s exquisite complexity more than make up for Ruben’s relative flatness.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finagling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finagling. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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