Words / F / General

finesse

noun/fɪˈnɛs/

B2CEFR level
25/100Rarity: fairly common
NeutralRegister

Refined skill, subtlety and delicacy in handling a task or situation.

He defused the row with a finesse that left both sides feeling vindicated.

Similar: subtlety, delicacy, tact

Origin: From French finesse 'fineness', from fin 'fine'.

Topic: skill in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: skill