wheeler-dealer
noun
wheel·er-deal·er
ˌ(h)wē-lər-ˈdē-lər 
variants
also wheeler and dealer
: a shrewd operator especially in business or politics
Examples of wheeler-dealer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
His father was a wheeler-dealer who lived by quick wits and the sweat of his brow, dabbling in bootlegged sake, swine farming, loan sharking, and later pachinko parlors—Japan’s ubiquitous low-stakes gambling game of clattering steel ball bearings.
—
Charlie Campbell, Time, 24 Feb. 2026
Foremost, general manager John Schneider, 54, showed he’s evolved into a top-tier talent man and wheeler-dealer.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
Nelson is a Willy Loman, a failing wheeler-dealer and big talker with no game to back him up.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Imagine what a shrewd, wheeler-dealer type could do with the Pirates.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
The picture these witnesses painted of Combs gels with previous depictions of the rap mogul as a hot-blooded, win-at-all-costs wheeler-dealer, which until now had lived mostly in the realm of rumor.
—Sheldon Pearce, NPR, 3 July 2025
John Richard Simplot was a real wheeler-dealer, one of the last of the old-school American entrepreneurs.
—Dana Oland, Idaho Statesman, 1 Apr. 2025
Michele Jackson More than six decades ago, New Yorker writer John Bainbridge spent nine months in the newly wealthy, fast-growing state of Texas, studying and schmoozing with its wheeler-dealers, oilmen, and bankers.
—The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2024
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Charlie Campbell, Time, 24 Feb. 2026
Foremost, general manager John Schneider, 54, showed he’s evolved into a top-tier talent man and wheeler-dealer.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
Nelson is a Willy Loman, a failing wheeler-dealer and big talker with no game to back him up.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Imagine what a shrewd, wheeler-dealer type could do with the Pirates.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
The picture these witnesses painted of Combs gels with previous depictions of the rap mogul as a hot-blooded, win-at-all-costs wheeler-dealer, which until now had lived mostly in the realm of rumor.
—Sheldon Pearce, NPR, 3 July 2025
John Richard Simplot was a real wheeler-dealer, one of the last of the old-school American entrepreneurs.
—Dana Oland, Idaho Statesman, 1 Apr. 2025
Michele Jackson More than six decades ago, New Yorker writer John Bainbridge spent nine months in the newly wealthy, fast-growing state of Texas, studying and schmoozing with its wheeler-dealers, oilmen, and bankers.
—The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Wheeler-dealer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wheeler-dealer. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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