Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

finesse

/fɪˈnɛs/ noun, verb

Forms finesses finessing finessed

  1. noun (uncountable) A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation.
  2. noun (uncountable) The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill.
  3. noun (countable) An adroit maneuver.
  4. noun (countable, card games) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over.
  5. verb (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem.
  6. verb (ambitransitive) To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way.
  7. verb (transitive, slang) To obtain something from someone through trickery or manipulation.
  8. verb (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing.
  9. verb (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse.
  10. verb (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.

Synonyms

finessing footwork zhoosh delicacy diplomacy discreetness

Etymology

From Middle English finesse (“a degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“a fineness; a delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin fīnis (“an end”); compare Middle English fīn (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something). The verb is derived from the noun.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Subtilty of contrivance to gain a point; artifice; stratagem.
  2. noun The act of finessing. See Finesse, v. i., 2.
  3. verb To use artifice or stratagem. Goldsmith.
  4. verb To attempt, when second or third player, to make a lower card answer the purpose of a higher, when an intermediate card is out, risking the chance of its being held by the opponent yet to play.

Etymology [F., fr. fin fine. See Fine, a.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “finesse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details