self-deal

verb

To engage in dealings favorable to oneself as principal, taking advantage of one's position as fiduciary.

Meanings

verbself-deal (third-person singular simple present self-deals, present participle self-dealing, simple past and past participle self-dealt)

present singular third person self-deals · participle present self-dealing · participle past self-dealt · past self-dealt

  1. To engage in dealings favorable to oneself as principal, taking advantage of one's position as fiduciary.

    Among the issues the NYAG is examining is whether WeWork’s founder and former chief executive, Adam Neumann, indulged in self-dealing to enrich himself.

    2019 November 19, “WeWork: New York attorney general investigating founder's possible self-dealing”, in The Guardian
    1 more example

    But as in the case of Japan, the results of self-dealing corruption largely remain in the country rather than escaping to Swiss bank accounts as often happened with the style of 1950s era corruption seen in Vietnam or the Philippines.

    2011 August 1, Steve Clemons, “China's Internal Pluralism Is Nothing to Cheer About”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2021

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-der.?
  9. Proto-Germanic*dailiz
  10. Proto-Germanic*dailijaną
  11. Old Englishdǣlan
  12. Middle Englishdelen
  13. Englishdeal
  14. Englishself-deal

From self- + deal.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

self-deal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-deal

MLA

“self-deal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-deal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-deal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-deal.

Source: self-deal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.