wheeler-dealer

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the original context of betting and casino, one chancing his luck and skill and perhaps his ability to cheat.[1]

Noun

wheeler-dealer (plural wheeler-dealers)

  1. (informal) A shrewd political or commercial schemer, especially one who is unscrupulous; a hustler; a shady operator.
    • 1990 November 26, Ed Magnuson, Hays Gorey, “You Sold Your Office”, in Time:
      Seated at separate tables to underscore their differing levels of involvement with indicted savings and loan wheeler-dealer Charles Keating, the five were fighting to regain reputations earned in a lifetime of public service.
    • 2024 December 6, Stuart Heritage, “Meet the Rees-Moggs: a bluffer’s guide to the family’s weirdness”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      It is illegal to buy and sell this sort of item, he says, but not necessarily illegal to buy and sell the containers that they happen to come in. What an unexpected wheeler dealer.

Translations

References

  1. ^ Linda Flavell (2011) Dictionary of Idioms and their Origins, London
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