finagle

[ fi-ney-guhl ]

verb (used with object)

, fi·na·gled, fi·na·gling.

1. to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed by out of ):

   He finagled the backers out of a fortune.

2. to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation:

   to finagle an assignment to the Membership Committee.

verb (used without object)

, fi·na·gled, fi·na·gling.

1. to practice deception or fraud; scheme.

finagle

/ fɪˈneɪɡəl /

verb

1. tr to get or achieve by trickery, craftiness, or persuasion; wangle
2. to use trickery or craftiness on (a person)

Derived Forms

• fiˈnagler, noun

Other Words From

• fi·nagler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of finagle¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1925–30; finaig- (variant of fainaigue ) + -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of finagle¹

C20: probably changed from dialect fainaigue

Example Sentences

But she has an ulterior motive in shrewdly finagling her way into a job at an esteemed Chicago law firm, which is revealed by the end of the hour and sets the season in motion.

From Los Angeles Times

He finagled it so that he ran the leg that passed right in front of his and my friend’s house on Monroe Drive.

From Salon

And, as the rookies sign, the Seahawks will have to do some finagling to get cap compliant.

From Seattle Times

Supreme Court against the Biden administration’s attempt to finagle federal law to override Idaho’s law that explicitly protects both the lives of women and their unborn children.

From Seattle Times

And if he was moving across the Atlantic, he figured he might as well finagle his way onto one of the country’s televised quiz shows.

From New York Times