dark horse

noun
1.
a racehorse, competitor, etc., about whom little is known or who unexpectedly wins.
2.
a candidate who is unexpectedly nominated at a political convention.
Origin
1825-35
Examples from the web for dark horse
  • Yet improbably, miraculously, the universe-the ultimate dark horse-beat those odds.
British Dictionary definitions for dark horse

dark horse

noun
1.
a competitor in a race or contest about whom little is known; an unknown
2.
a person who reveals little about himself or his activities, esp one who has unexpected talents or abilities
3.
(US, politics) a candidate who is unexpectedly nominated or elected
Word Origin and History for dark horse
n.

in politics, 1842, an image from horse racing, in which dark is used in its figurative sense of "unknown."

Moonraker is called a "dark horse"; that is neither his sire nor dam is known. ["Pierce Egan's Book of Sports," London, 1832]

dark horse in Culture

dark horse definition


An unexpected winner. In politics, a dark horse is a candidate for office considered unlikely to receive his or her party's nomination, but who might be nominated if party leaders cannot agree on a better candidate.

Slang definitions & phrases for dark horse

dark horse

modifier

: a dark-horse candidate/ dark-horse odds

noun phrase

A person or team, esp in sports or politics, that seems very unlikely to win but might nevertheless do so (1842+ fr horse racing)


Idioms and Phrases with dark horse

dark horse

A little known, unexpectedly successful entrant, as in You never can tell—some dark horse may come along and win a Senate seat. This metaphoric expression originally alluded to an unknown horse winning a race and was so used in a novel by Benjamin Disraeli (The Young Duke, 1831). It soon began to be transferred to political candidates, among the first of whom was James K. Polk. He won the 1844 Democratic Presidential nomination on the eighth ballot and went on to win the election.