finagle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed byout of ).
He finagled the backers out of a fortune.
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to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation.
to finagle an assignment to the Membership Committee.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr) to get or achieve by trickery, craftiness, or persuasion; wangle
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to use trickery or craftiness on (a person)
Other Word Forms
- finagler noun
Etymology
Origin of finagle
An Americanism first recorded in 1925–30; finaig- (variant of fainaigue ) + -le
Explanation
When you finagle, you get out of something using devious methods, like when you pretend you're sick to avoid taking a pop quiz. Finagle is a word with a usually negative connotation, as it means to get something by being dishonest or tricking someone. To get a student discount from a bookstore by pretending you're a student is to finagle the store clerk. Finagle might also mean to get your way by being clever, as when you convince your sister that what she really wants for her birthday is that video game you've been dreaming of for months.
Vocabulary lists containing finagle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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 • Apr. 7, 2024
Indeed, the internet is full of DIY hackers explaining how to finagle a frunk unofficially.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 7, 2022
Francisco-Juan claimed to be the 10-year-old’s father and had managed to finagle her mother into putting his name on her birth certificate, manufacturing bogus proof of the relationship.
From Washington Times • Aug. 21, 2022
The team was fortunate to finagle an NFC East title and playoff berth with a 7-9 record last season.
From Washington Post • Jan. 8, 2022
The conference had filled up months earlier, but Jesse managed to finagle his way in over the phone.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
