finesse
Delicate handling ability
Finesse is delicate skill in handling difficult situations—the ability to navigate tricky circumstances with subtlety and tact: She handled the awkward question with finesse.
In card games, a finesse is an attempt to win a trick with a lower card by playing it when an opponent is unlikely to hold the higher one.
As a verb, to finesse something is to achieve it through clever maneuvering rather than direct force: He finessed his way past the objections.
Skillful ease of movement
- subtletyFine distinction, easily missed
- adroitnessSkillful ease in action
- delicacyRefined sensitivity or rarity
- tactSensitivity in speech
dexterity · grace · precision · expertise · mastery · artistry · craft · touch
Structure spanning an obstacle
- trumpSuit outranking all others
- leadDense metal, symbol Pb
- trickDeliberate deception
- endplayForced disadvantageous lead
squeeze · ducking · cardplay · declarer · dummy · contract · honors · void
Deliberate tactical movement
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
contrivance · wile · stratagem · ploy · maneuvering · cleverness · shrewdness · calculation
deftness
Skillful ease of movement
- subtletyFine distinction, easily missed
- adroitnessSkillful ease in action
- delicacyRefined sensitivity or rarity
tact · dexterity · grace · precision · expertise · mastery · artistry · craft · touch · nuance
bridge
Structure spanning an obstacle
endplay · squeeze · ducking · cardplay · declarer · dummy · contract · honors · void · slam
maneuver
Deliberate tactical movement
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- schemingCrafty and calculating
artifice · contrivance · wile · stratagem · ploy · maneuvering · cleverness · shrewdness · calculation · gamesmanship
- skillsskills, skill, ability, abilities, competencies
- aestheticsaesthetics, aesthetic, beauty, beautiful, ugly
- card gamespoker, blackjack, solitaire, hearts, spades
- French Loanwordsa la carte, ballet, a la mode, au revoir, bon appetit
- athleticismspeed, agility, strength, endurance, stamina
- card termsace, pair, flush, king of hearts, straight
finesseclumsiness
Lack of physical grace
bungle · fumble · botch · ham-handedness · ineptitude
finessebrute force
Power over technique
heavy-handedness · bluntness · crudeness · roughness · ham-fistedness
finessetactlessness
Absence of social sensitivity
gaucheness · gracelessness · boorishness · crudeness · indelicacy