Definition of "finesse" []

• Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution, or artisanship. (noun)
• Skillful, subtle handling of a situation; tactful, diplomatic maneuvering. (noun)
• A method of leading up to a tenace, as in bridge, in order to prevent an opponent from winning the trick with an intermediate card. (noun)
• A stratagem in which one appears to decline an advantage. (noun)
• To accomplish by the use of finesse. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Besides the multiple formations he devised, his run-first philosophy helped toughen a program that used to be damned with the label "finesse.""
• "One face is very elegant and fine, close to Roman é e-Conti in finesse; the other side is more abrupt, monastic even."
• "There's a certain finesse required for pulling off unforgettable sci-fi movies and I really hope Neil has it - I don't want a story with potential like this one becoming the next Jumper."