sweetheart
12
7.8
- noun
- /ˈswiːtˌhɑːrt/
- Literature
:
trato de favor
- The city council was criticized for offering a sweetheart deal to the construction company without public bidding.
- a sweetheart deal
I hope he does not weaponize the IRS, which was going to give a secret sweetheart deal to Hunter Biden before a judge caught it.
- I hope he does not weaponize the IRS, which was going to give a secret sweetheart deal to Hunter Biden before a judge caught it.
- And this is a sweetheart deal that is being exposed, thankfully because of these divorce proceedings.
- He was tried sometime a while ago and received some very shady sweetheart deal that allowed him to serve his time.
- Now the borrowers, they're going to pay, they're not going to stop paying on these sweetheart deals.
Examples
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He tried to strike this sweetheart deal with the prosecutors in July.
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Yeah, he said Tom gave him a quarter of a million dollars for a sweetheart deal with the union.
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We really appreciate you offering us such a sweetheart deal.
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What if the Big Ten comes calling with a sweetheart deal?
Blog text (32) -
Could the Prime Minister explain the difference between a sweetheart deal and a gentleman's agreement?
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It was one of the biggest, biggest sweetheart deals of all time.
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If you look at the rise of LBJ, he became a multi-millionaire through sweetheart deals.
Blog text (16) -
Then McMahon went after Murphy's subsequent re-fi and claimed it was a sweetheart deal.
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American Republican congressman mucks in international affairs, setting up sweetheart deals for friends and undermining State Dept's authority.
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Annexation wouldn't affect the fair board's ability to enter into long-term, non-competitive sweetheart contracts.
Blog text (15)
Antonyms
Compounds
- Literature
7
6.1
An agreement that gives one side unfair advantages because of favoritism or secret deals
How Favorable
Surface Forms
Morphology
sweetheart = sweet + heart (semi-transparent) = sweet + heart
The notion of favorable or privileged treatment is a metaphorical/metonymic extension from 'sweetheart' (a favoured person), but the specific sense 'preferential deal' and its possible unethical connotations are not directly predictable for all learners.
Etymology
Sweetheart can also mean something very pleasing, and so a 'sweetheart' deal is a deal that is too good for one side; that's why the phrase suggests special or unfair treatment.