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
The future is bright and that’s thanks in large part to the current brain trust (though the two sweetheart deals for Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson signed by the previous regime certainly help).
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
The wider Epstein scandal that blew up in 2018 was triggered by new reporting about that sweetheart deal, including the government’s failure to inform his victims about the non-prosecution agreement at the time, and the extent of Epstein’s predations.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
No sweetheart deals with Mozilla.
—Tor Constantino, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Along with other shareholders, Gabelli complained that Redstone carved out a sweetheart deal for herself and her family, coming away with $2.4 billion in proceeds from the merger while other investors were left at a disadvantage.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025
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Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
The wider Epstein scandal that blew up in 2018 was triggered by new reporting about that sweetheart deal, including the government’s failure to inform his victims about the non-prosecution agreement at the time, and the extent of Epstein’s predations.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
No sweetheart deals with Mozilla.
—Tor Constantino, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Along with other shareholders, Gabelli complained that Redstone carved out a sweetheart deal for herself and her family, coming away with $2.4 billion in proceeds from the merger while other investors were left at a disadvantage.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Aug. 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 10 Sep. 2025.
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