gentlemen's agreements
Honor-based informal deals
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal arrangement based on trust rather than legal contract.
The parties rely on honor and good faith rather than enforceable terms: They had a gentlemen's agreement to split the profits.
Such agreements often govern matters where formal contracts would be awkward or impossible.
Historically, the term also described discriminatory arrangements—gentlemen's agreements that excluded Jews, Black people, or other groups from neighborhoods, clubs, or business dealings while maintaining plausible deniability.
High regard, moral dignity
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- wordLinguistic meaning unit
- reputationCollective opinion of someone
- faithTrust without proof
goodwill · credibility · reliability · loyalty · commitment · confidence · assurance · mutual respect
Mutual palm-gripping gesture
- verbalOf or in words
- unwrittenNot set down formally
- tacitUnderstood without words
- implicitUnderstood without being stated
unofficial · nonbinding · unspoken · casual · understanding · oral · personal · private
Price-fixing coalition
- collusionFraudulent secret cooperation
- price-fixingCoordinated artificial cost-setting
- quotaFixed assigned amount
- restrictiveImposing narrow boundaries
discriminatory · old boys' club · closed-door · insider · anticompetitive · monopoly · redlining · boycott
honor
High regard, moral dignity
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- wordLinguistic meaning unit
- reputationCollective opinion of someone
faith · goodwill · credibility · reliability · loyalty · commitment · confidence · assurance · mutual respect · good faith
handshake
Mutual palm-gripping gesture
implicit · unofficial · nonbinding · unspoken · casual · understanding · oral · personal · private · off-the-record
cartel
Price-fixing coalition
- collusionFraudulent secret cooperation
- price-fixingCoordinated artificial cost-setting
- quotaFixed assigned amount
restrictive · discriminatory · old boys' club · closed-door · insider · anticompetitive · monopoly · redlining · boycott
code
Symbolic communication system
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- etiquetteRules of polite conduct
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
decorum · courtesy · chivalry · respectability · dignity · principle · conduct · custom · tradition · norm
- gray areasgray areas, murky waters, fuzzy boundaries, ambiguities, fine lines
gentlemen's agreementsformal contracts
Enforceable written commitments
binding contracts · contracts · legal contracts · written contracts · signed agreements
gentlemen's agreementspublic records
Officially filed, publicly accessible documents
gentleman, gentlemen, agreement, agreements, gentle, gently, gentleness, gentler, gentlest