finagle
verb
fi·na·gle
fə-ˈnā-gəl 
finagled; finagling
fə-ˈnā-g(ə-)liŋ
1
: to obtain (something) by indirect or involved means
finagle a ride home
2
: to obtain (something) by trickery
He finagled his way into the concert.
: to use devious or dishonest methods to achieve one's ends
I have long craved a convention where someone had to wheel and deal, … maneuver and finagle, to win the crown.—
Mark Plotkin
Mark PlotkinExamples of finagle in a Sentence
A con man finagled my neighbor out of four hundred dollars.
let me look at my schedule and see if I can't finagle a visit to the museum
Recent Examples on the Web
Save them the struggle of having to finagle with a manual wine bottle opener.
—Brandi Fuller, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2025
Moorjani plays Aruna, the Los Angeles Waves’ incredibly blunt star accountant who can finagle her way around any number of financial hurdles.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Ryan O’Donnell, the interim executive director at Data for Progress, emphasized the overall finding that the electorate did not want Trump to finagle a third term.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
On Sunday, August 10, the JoBros kicked off their Jonas20 tour in New Jersey, with Nick telling the audience that after Joe landed a lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, their dad finagled a way for Kevin and Nick to get parts as well.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Brandi Fuller, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2025
Moorjani plays Aruna, the Los Angeles Waves’ incredibly blunt star accountant who can finagle her way around any number of financial hurdles.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Ryan O’Donnell, the interim executive director at Data for Progress, emphasized the overall finding that the electorate did not want Trump to finagle a third term.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
On Sunday, August 10, the JoBros kicked off their Jonas20 tour in New Jersey, with Nick telling the audience that after Joe landed a lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, their dad finagled a way for Kevin and Nick to get parts as well.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finagle
Cite this Entry
“Finagle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finagle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
finagle
verb
fi·na·gle
fə-ˈnā-gəl
finagled; finagling
-g(ə-)liŋ
: to use trickery to get what one wants
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share