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
Given the power of Intel and AMD in the traditional PC market, Qualcomm is looked on by many as a dark horse in the AI PC race.
—
Tim Bajarin, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
My dark horse candidate is Nate Lavender, who made an impressive appearance in our opening spring training game.
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
After season 28 Bachelor runner-up Daisy Kent turned down host Jesse Palmer’s offer to lead the next season of the show on After the Final Rose, the honor went to dark horse candidate Jenn Tran, who will be the franchise’s first Asian Bachelorette.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 26 Mar. 2024
The 2023 Academy Awards incited quite the controversy, particularly in the Best Actress category, when dark horse Andrea Riseborough secured a nomination in the 11th hour, after being largely ignored the entire awards season, for the indie film To Leslie.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 15 Mar. 2024
The fashionable dark horse pick to win the Pac-12 tournament was moving on.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Nebraska Last week: 3 Nebraska has been surprising; the Cornhuskers could really be a dark horse to make some noise in the Big Ten this year.
—Chloe Peterson, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Jan. 2024
The four-star linebacker is a dark horse to push his more experienced counterparts.
—Kortay Vincent, Kansas City Star, 24 Feb. 2024
But there are also dark horses who might get a push from more moderate corners of the party, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who caught national Democrats' eye with his victory in the conservative-leaning state.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024
Tim Bajarin, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
My dark horse candidate is Nate Lavender, who made an impressive appearance in our opening spring training game.
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
After season 28 Bachelor runner-up Daisy Kent turned down host Jesse Palmer’s offer to lead the next season of the show on After the Final Rose, the honor went to dark horse candidate Jenn Tran, who will be the franchise’s first Asian Bachelorette.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 26 Mar. 2024
The 2023 Academy Awards incited quite the controversy, particularly in the Best Actress category, when dark horse Andrea Riseborough secured a nomination in the 11th hour, after being largely ignored the entire awards season, for the indie film To Leslie.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 15 Mar. 2024
The fashionable dark horse pick to win the Pac-12 tournament was moving on.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Nebraska Last week: 3 Nebraska has been surprising; the Cornhuskers could really be a dark horse to make some noise in the Big Ten this year.
—Chloe Peterson, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Jan. 2024
The four-star linebacker is a dark horse to push his more experienced counterparts.
—Kortay Vincent, Kansas City Star, 24 Feb. 2024
But there are also dark horses who might get a push from more moderate corners of the party, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who caught national Democrats' eye with his victory in the conservative-leaning state.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dark horse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Dictionary Entries Near dark horse
Cite this Entry
“Dark horse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dark%20horse. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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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
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