finagle
Get through cunning
Finagle is to obtain something through cleverness, trickery, or persistent maneuvering: She finagled her way into the VIP section.
The word suggests resourceful scheming rather than outright fraud—getting what you want by bending rules or wearing people down: He finagled an extra week of vacation from his boss.
Deliberate tactical movement
- wangleObtain through devious means
- wrangleArgue or herd livestock
- wheedlePersuade through flattery
- cajolePersuade through flattery
coax · persuade · negotiate · jockey · navigate · orchestrate · engineer · angle
Deliberate deception
- conArgument against
- swindleDeception for financial gain
- scamDishonest money-making scheme
- cheatAct dishonestly to win
deceive · dupe · hoodwink · bamboozle · hustle · fraud · hoax · ruse
Cleverly deceptive
- wilySkilled at deception
- craftyCleverly deceptive
- shrewdPractically clever, perceptive
- cannyShrewdly practical and cautious
savvy · artful · clever · slick · calculating · devious · scheming · conniving
Perform without preparation
- jury-rigImprovise temporary repair
- cobble togetherAssemble hastily from whatever's available
- make doManage with insufficient resources
- scrape togetherAssemble with effort
MacGyver · scrounge · rustle up · work around · hack · kludge · bootstrap
maneuver
Deliberate tactical movement
cajole · coax · persuade · negotiate · jockey · navigate · orchestrate · engineer · angle · work
trick
Deliberate deception
cheat · deceive · dupe · hoodwink · bamboozle · hustle · fraud · hoax · ruse · ploy
sly
Cleverly deceptive
canny · savvy · artful · clever · slick · calculating · devious · scheming · conniving · underhanded
improvise
Perform without preparation
- jury-rigImprovise temporary repair
- cobble togetherAssemble hastily from whatever's available
- make doManage with insufficient resources
MacGyver · scrape together · scrounge · rustle up · work around · hack · kludge · bootstrap
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- Whimsy Wordsgobbledygook, gibberish, mumbo jumbo, hogwash, balderdash
- improviseimprovise, make do, wing it, ad-lib, jury-rig