"Finesse" is closely related to the words "fine" and "finish." It traces back to an Old French word, fin, meaning "fineness, subtlety, delicacy, perfection," and further back to  a Latin one, finis, meaning "a finishing, an end, a boundary, or a division." (The connection between fin and finis makes sense when you think of how, for example, a finishing school is a place to "finish" yourself by learning grace, manners, and culture.)

In English, we first used "finesse" to mean "fineness: luxury, subtlety, or excellence in quality." Over time, the meaning narrowed a bit. 

Today, finesse is skill or tact in handling tricky situations.

And to finesse a tricky task or situation is to perform it with skill or tact.

(As a verb, "finesse" also has some specific meanings in card games, sports, and politics. But we'll stick to its general use.)

Part of speech:

Most often a noun, the uncountable kind: "She dances with finesse;" "Their finesse impressed me."

Also a verb, both the transitive kind ("He finessed his way into the championship;" "She finessed the final exams") and the intransitive kind ("He'll need to finesse if he wants to win this one").

Other forms: 

The other verb forms are "finessed" and "finessing."

how to use it:

Pick the formal, stylish, semi-common word "finesse" when you want to emphasize how someone has done something tricky or difficult with an admirable amount of skill, tact, and grace.

Talk about someone's finesse: "I admire Heidi's finesse on the guitar."

Or, talk about someone doing something with finesse: "She plays with finesse."

Or, talk about finesse in general: "Playing the guitar requires finesse. I need more finesse."

And to use "finesse" as a verb, talk about someone finessing something. I remember beaming with pride when I was first learning to drive a car, and my stepmom, who was helping me practice, noticed that I was getting better at parking. "You're finessing it," she said. 

examples:

"[The lawn bowling ball] felt heavy enough for me to know I could send it down to the other end with force when needed, but light enough that I could deliver it with the finesse it deserved."
— Robert Hoge, Ugly, 2013

"Kaz had done his best to teach her, but she didn't quite have his way with breaking and entering, and it took her a few tries to finesse the lock." 
— Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows, 2015

has this page helped you understand "finesse"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "finesse" without saying "diplomacy" or "acumen."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (does something) with finesse."

Or: "(Someone) (does something) with no finesse."

Example 1: "Chad folds the omelet with finesse."

Example 2: "You swing like a boy—all force and no finesse."
— Nic Stone, Fast Pitch, 2021

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for August is "Degrees of Venndom."

I'll give you a pair of terms, and you decide how Venn-diagrammable they are. It's harder than it sounds! To see my suggested answer, scroll all the way down. Your response doesn't need to match mine; you should just be able to defend yours.

Try this today: At what degree of Venndom do ARC and ARCH exist? 

4th degree: these terms never overlap, like DOG and CAT.

3rd degree: these terms are nested, with one term always the other but not vice versa, like KITTEN and CAT.

2nd degree: these terms sometimes overlap, like PET and MAMMAL.

1st degree: these terms always overlap, like CAT and FELINE.

review this word:

1. The opposite of FINESSE is

A. DAYDREAM or REVERIE.
B. CLUMSINESS or GAUCHERIE.
C. FRIENDSHIP or CAMARADERIE.

2. In The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown wrote: "Chuck... was trying to finesse it, trying to _____."

A. cobble together an evening meal
B. keep the boat in perfect balance stroke after stroke
C. figure out how something so unorthodox could be so successful

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B Answer to the game question: ARC and ARCH are at the 2nd degree. An arc is kind of a geometrical shape or concept, while an arch is usually part of an actual structure. I originally thought that the terms were nested, with every arch being an arc, but the geometry says no.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.