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
His original 606,302 investment—most of it borrowed from a bank where he was once a director—netted him a fortune of $18.4 million, and accusations that he had benefited from a sweetheart deal. —David Hume Kennerly
David Hume Kennerly 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
Not only does the price seem glaringly low, but the process suggests a sweetheart deal.
—Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2025
Epstein was also investigated and prosecuted in 2008 when the DOJ intervened to give him a sweetheart deal.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2025
Acknowledging this is cold-eyed realism; humiliating and undercutting an ally, perhaps with worse to come in the form of a sweetheart deal for Moscow, is not.
—The Editors, National Review, 20 Feb. 2025
After all, public is OpenAI, Inc.’s beneficiary, and a sweetheart deal between insiders does not serve the public interest.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sweetheart deal
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2025
Epstein was also investigated and prosecuted in 2008 when the DOJ intervened to give him a sweetheart deal.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2025
Acknowledging this is cold-eyed realism; humiliating and undercutting an ally, perhaps with worse to come in the form of a sweetheart deal for Moscow, is not.
—The Editors, National Review, 20 Feb. 2025
After all, public is OpenAI, Inc.’s beneficiary, and a sweetheart deal between insiders does not serve the public interest.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 10 Feb. 2025
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 14 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share