dark horse

noun

1

a

: a usually little known contender (such as a racehorse) that makes an unexpectedly good showing

b

: an entrant in a contest that is judged unlikely to succeed

2

: a political candidate unexpectedly nominated usually as a compromise between factions

Examples of dark horse in a Sentence

The Democrat from Utah has gone from being a dark horse to the front-runner in the campaign for President.

The movie is a dark horse for the award.

He is a dark horse, but I did find out that he once played football professionally.

Recent Examples on the Web

Can Australia still cause chaos from crosses, and might Paraguay be the group’s dark horse? —Thom Harris, New York Times, 5 June 2026

Prior to the quarterfinal bout, Milton (14-6) entered as a dark horse in the tournament, having knocked off a series of perennial heavyweights this spring. —Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 3 June 2026

Ortberg was a total dark horse. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 1 June 2026

The Unauthorized Musical Parody as Canadian hockey all-star Shane and Russian dark horse Ilya, respectively. —Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 25 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for dark horse

• concourse
• divorce
• endorse
• enforce
• indorse
• midcourse
• outsource
• perforce
• racehorse
• remorse
• seahorse
• workforce

Kids Definition

dark horse

noun

: a contestant or a political figure whose abilities and chances of winning are not known

the convention nominated a dark horse