wheeling and dealing
Shrewd business maneuvering
Wheeling and dealing is aggressive, often unscrupulous negotiating and maneuvering, especially in business or politics.
A wheeler-dealer pursues deals through charm, cunning, and flexible ethics: There's a lot of wheeling and dealing in city contracts.
The phrase suggests someone who operates in gray areas, trading favors and working angles.
Negotiating mutually acceptable terms
- deal-makingNegotiating agreements between parties
- hagglingNegotiating a lower price
- brokeringNegotiating deals between parties
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
horse-trading · give-and-take · quid pro quo · palm-greasing · sweetening the pot · closing deals · influence peddling · arm-twisting
Secretly planning wrongdoing
- plottingDevising a secret plan
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- machinationCrafty scheming, often hostile
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
subterfuge · underhanded · duplicitous · collusion · smoke-filled rooms · kickbacks · graft · cronyism
Unproven theorizing or risky investment
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- arbitrageExploiting price discrepancies
- mergersCorporate consolidations
- acquisitionsThings newly gained
flipping · profiteering · brokerage · leveraged buyouts · asset stripping · corporate raids · insider trading · scalping
bargaining
Negotiating mutually acceptable terms
- deal-makingNegotiating agreements between parties
- hagglingNegotiating a lower price
- brokeringNegotiating deals between parties
compromise · horse-trading · give-and-take · quid pro quo · palm-greasing · sweetening the pot · closing deals · influence peddling · arm-twisting · talks
conniving
Secretly planning wrongdoing
- plottingDevising a secret plan
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- machinationCrafty scheming, often hostile
cunning · subterfuge · underhanded · duplicitous · collusion · smoke-filled rooms · kickbacks · graft · cronyism · string-pulling
speculation
Unproven theorizing or risky investment
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- arbitrageExploiting price discrepancies
- mergersCorporate consolidations
acquisitions · flipping · profiteering · brokerage · leveraged buyouts · asset stripping · corporate raids · insider trading · scalping · hustling
- negotiationbargaining, bargain, negotiate, mediation, compromise
- politickingcampaigning, electioneering, lobbying, canvassing, stumping
- easy moneyeasy money, quick buck, fast cash, windfall, gravy train
wheeling and dealingplain dealing
Honest, straightforward conduct
square dealing · fair dealing · straight shooting · ethical business · ethical business practices
wheeling and dealingstraightforwardness
Quality of being direct
good faith · guilelessness · openness · candor · simplicity
wheeling and dealingnon-participation
Choosing to stay uninvolved
inactivity · passivity · standing pat · doing nothing · idle
wheel, wheels, dealer, dealing, dealings, wheelbarrow, wheeled, wheeling, dealers