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

However, both Amazon Prime and Netflix are reportedly still in the mix as dark horse contenders to have Tomlin as a studio analyst. —Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026

The Longhorns are especially considered to be one of the national title favorites and Michigan and LSU are both dark horses to go deep in the tourney. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 20 Mar. 2026

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament. —Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026

The last true dark horse winner was Jimmy Carter in 1976. —Keith Naughton, The Washington Examiner, 14 Mar. 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
• racecourse
• racehorse
• remorse
• seahorse

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