gentlemen's agreement
Americannoun
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an agreement that, although unenforceable at law, is binding as a matter of personal honor.
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an unwritten agreement by a socially prominent clique, private club, etc., to discriminate against or refuse to accept members of certain religious, racial, national, or other groups.
noun
Etymology
Origin of gentlemen's agreement
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2022, Switzerland's federal criminal court in Bellinzona cleared the two after accepting their account of a "gentlemen's agreement" for the payment.
From BBC • Mar. 3, 2025
They’re in a written gentlemen’s agreement, somewhere, that Punchbowl News devilishly described as the “secret three-page addendum.”
From Slate • Jan. 9, 2023
“We made a gentlemen’s agreement that we’ll play and then we’ll figure it out,” Olivas said.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 30, 2021
According to Stone and Borman, by the end of a long weekend, they reached a gentlemen’s agreement: Stone would option the novel — if Kucherena could provide regular access to his client.
From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2016
"Unless you regard an appointment as a gentlemen's agreement, and to be kept," marked Len Spencer, rather severely.
From The Grammar School Boys in Summer Athletics by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
