Definition

Noun: A person who is clever, cunning, and often unscrupulous in business or politics, skilled at making deals and navigating complex or difficult situations, sometimes using sharp or underhanded methods.

Usage

This term is used to describe someone, typically in business, finance, or politics, who engages in aggressive, clever, and often morally questionable deal-making. It carries a connotation of shrewdness and a lack of scruples. It is often used critically or disapprovingly.

Examples

• The city's real estate market was dominated by a few powerful wheeler dealers.
• He built his fortune not as an inventor, but as a wheeler dealer who bought and sold patents.
• The political wheeler dealer managed to secure enough votes behind the scenes to pass the controversial bill.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used attributively (like an adjective) before another noun.
  • He was known for his wheeler-dealer tactics in the boardroom.
• It can describe a style or approach to negotiation.
  • The negotiations were not straightforward; they required some wheeler-dealer finesse.

Variants and Related Words

• Wheeling and dealing (noun phrase): The act of engaging in clever, complex, and often shrewd business or political transactions.
  • His rise to power was marked by constant wheeling and dealing.

Synonyms

• Operator
• Hustler
• Sharp dealer
• Schemer
• Power broker

Antonyms

• Straight arrow
• Principled negotiator
• Transparent agent

Related Idioms/Phrases

• To wheel and deal (verb phrase): To engage in clever, complex, and often shrewd business or political transactions.
  • He spent the conference wheeling and dealing to form new alliances.

Noun

1. a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficulties