sweetheart deal
noun
plural sweetheart deals
chiefly US
: an unusually advantageous arrangement or agreement
If they wanted to leave, they could have done so before the stadium expansion and received a sweetheart deal from someplace else.—
Nick Canepa
Nick Canepa
especially
: one that is obtained through personal or business connections or influence
Those shows were produced by the same company that broadcast them, prompting their creators to fret about sweetheart deals … —Brian Lowry
Brian Lowry The company also used its clout to cut through the logjam of carrier requirements that had stifled innovation in the phone industry for years, essentially forcing AT&T into a sweetheart deal that put Apple in the driver's seat. —Brian X. Chen
Brian X. Chen Examples of sweetheart deal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Right now the answer is too often the same, and residents and small businesses are asked to absorb costs created by large commercial operations that negotiated sweetheart deals on the way in.
—
Baltimore Sun Staff,
Baltimore Sun,
20 May 2026
Epstein’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor had been settled in 2008, when the financier pleaded guilty in a sweetheart deal and served 13 months in prison.
—
Tracy Grant,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
4 May 2026
The Chiefs since bolted for a sweetheart deal in Kansas.
—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
30 Mar. 2026
Casar’s story touched on a subject close to Sanders’s heart, and not only because the senator dislikes it when billionaires get sweetheart deals.
—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sweetheart deal
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Baltimore Sun Staff,
Baltimore Sun,
20 May 2026
Epstein’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor had been settled in 2008, when the financier pleaded guilty in a sweetheart deal and served 13 months in prison.
—
Tracy Grant,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
4 May 2026
The Chiefs since bolted for a sweetheart deal in Kansas.
—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
30 Mar. 2026
Casar’s story touched on a subject close to Sanders’s heart, and not only because the senator dislikes it when billionaires get sweetheart deals.
—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sweetheart deal
Cite this Entry
“Sweetheart deal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweetheart%20deal. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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