finesse vs knack

finesse

noun
  • Skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation. 

  • An adroit manoeuvre. 

  • The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill. 

  • 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. 

verb
  • To play (a card) as a finesse. 

  • To obtain something from someone through trickery or manipulation. 

  • To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or stratagem. 

  • To attempt to win a trick by finessing. 

  • To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way. 

knack

noun
  • Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity. 

  • A petty contrivance; a toy. 

  • A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. 

verb
  • To speak affectedly. 

How often have the words finesse and knack occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )