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
Passengers’ relatives call it a sweetheart deal that fails to consider the lives lost.
—David Koenig, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
Relatives of victims and their lawyers have called the settlement a sweetheart deal that fails to consider the loss of so many lives.
—Claire Rush, Chicago Tribune, 5 Oct. 2024
In 2013, an initial inquiry was launched into whether Apple had engaged in sweetheart deals with Ireland to lower its tax bills.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024
Owners had pushed back against Brady receiving a sweetheart deal from Davis.
—Vincent Frank, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sweetheart deal 
David Koenig, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
Relatives of victims and their lawyers have called the settlement a sweetheart deal that fails to consider the loss of so many lives.
—Claire Rush, Chicago Tribune, 5 Oct. 2024
In 2013, an initial inquiry was launched into whether Apple had engaged in sweetheart deals with Ireland to lower its tax bills.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024
Owners had pushed back against Brady receiving a sweetheart deal from Davis.
—Vincent Frank, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sweetheart deal
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sweetheart deal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Sweetheart deal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweetheart%20deal. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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