dark horse

noun

Updated on: 19 May 2018

Definition of dark horse

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

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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 of dark horse from the Web

As for a dark horse pick, keep an eye out for this classic diadem inspired by a popular Romanov style.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "Meghan Markle's Dad Won't Attend the Royal Wedding," 14 May 2018
Finau, a dark horse to win the men’s first major of the season, teed off at 12:43 p.m. ET with Bernhard Langer and Yuta Ikeda.

— langston wertz jr., charlotteobserver, "One day after horrific spill, Tony Finau plays Masters on tender ankle | Charlotte Observer," 5 Apr. 2018
From Matt: Who is your dark horse for the Big Ten title in 2018?

— andy staples, SI.com, "What's a Reasonable Expectation for Texas in Year Two Under Tom Herman?," 7 Mar. 2018
Today, though, a dark horse candidate for a pixie cut emerged, and she's got enough star power to make the crop come out on top.

— lauren le vine, Redbook, "Jennifer Lawrence Debuts a Shocking New Hairstyle," 6 Nov. 2013
The dark horse on this list in terms of prestige, Vanderbilt has recruiting momentum right now.

— gary bedore, kansascity, "Monday is Decision Day for elite Indiana shooting guard Romeo Langford | The Kansas City Star," 29 Apr. 2018
LB Uchenna Nwosu, DT Justin Jones and LB Kyzir White may collectively elevate the Bolts to Super Bowl dark horse.

— nate davis, USA TODAY, "NFL draft grades 2018: Which teams had best, worst classes?," 28 Apr. 2018
Orsborn: The Pelicans were my dark horse favorite among the team’s seeded 5-8 in the West.

— jim lefko, San Antonio Express-News, "Writers’ roundtable: Express-News sportswriters weigh in on Spurs’ potential draft targets," 27 Apr. 2018
Although Miljan Miljanić’s Yugoslavia, who had qualified ahead of Italy during the preliminary rounds, were seen as dark horses.

— SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 9 Weeks to Go - España, the Worst Host Nation in History," 23 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dark horse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of dark horse

1831

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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DARK HORSE Defined for English Language Learners

dark horse

noun

Definition of dark horse for English Language Learners

: a person (such as a politician), animal, or thing that competes in a race or other contest and is not expected to win
: a person who has interesting qualities or abilities that most people do not know about