one-trick pony

noun

: one that is skilled in only one area

also : one that has success only once

Examples of one-trick pony in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But not long after a fan Jerry-rigged a tool to get the sneakers down, social media was ablaze with accusations that the designer had given away a pair of fakes, as well as criticism deriding him as a one-trick pony. —Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 11 Dec. 2025

But the 28-year-old lineman isn’t a one-trick pony. —Mike Kaye december 11, Charlotte Observer, 11 Dec. 2025

But Big Loud is not a one-trick pony, with tunesmiths like Hardy and Ernest who have bubbled up out of their songwriting stable to become successful recording artists and tour headliners in their own right. —Chris Willman, Variety, 13 Nov. 2025

Toolson went 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half and was more than a one-trick pony, with several drives into the paint while showing some ability to draw fouls and playing with a relentlessness that occasionally veered into recklessness with two turnovers. —Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for one-trick pony

• anthraquinone
• benzoquinone
• glutathione
• hydroquinone
• oxycodone
• prednisolone
• pregnenolone
• ubiquinone
• abalone
• acrimony
• alimony
• antimony