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
There are even sweetheart deals on lodging during this special time.
—Mindy Sink, Denver Post, 27 Jan. 2026
Banfield's attorney, John Carroll, said in opening statements that Magalhães had maintained her innocence for a year but eventually changed her story in exchange for a sweetheart deal.
—CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Over the years, the government has made a yeoman’s effort at explaining the reason for the no-fault nature of the court—which has nothing to do with Washington cutting sweetheart deals with Big Pharma.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 22 Dec. 2025
The nationâs high court in October rejected another bid in Maxwellâs multi-pronged effort, refusing to hear an appeal that argued she should have been protected from prosecution based on the sweetheart deal the feds afforded Epstein in 2008 that shielded some of his co-conspirators.
—Molly Crane Newman, Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sweetheart deal
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Mindy Sink, Denver Post, 27 Jan. 2026
Banfield's attorney, John Carroll, said in opening statements that Magalhães had maintained her innocence for a year but eventually changed her story in exchange for a sweetheart deal.
—CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Over the years, the government has made a yeoman’s effort at explaining the reason for the no-fault nature of the court—which has nothing to do with Washington cutting sweetheart deals with Big Pharma.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 22 Dec. 2025
The nationâs high court in October rejected another bid in Maxwellâs multi-pronged effort, refusing to hear an appeal that argued she should have been protected from prosecution based on the sweetheart deal the feds afforded Epstein in 2008 that shielded some of his co-conspirators.
—Molly Crane Newman, Mercury News, 4 Dec. 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 3 Feb. 2026.
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