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
The big picture: Once there are rumblings of a CEO shakeup, experts told Axios that comms teams should prepare plans based on typical successor profiles — an inside hire, a dark horse or outsider, and a known industry leader.
—
Eleanor Hawkins, Axios, 13 Feb. 2025
Could Apple’s new AI capabilities perhaps be a looming, bandwidth-consuming dark horse?
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Feb. 2025
Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently suggested a dark horse National League team could emerge in the Alonso sweepstakes.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025
Walter Salles’ potent film has been considered an awards season dark horse but only managed to get one nomination today, in the Film Not In The English Language category.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for dark horse 
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Eleanor Hawkins, Axios, 13 Feb. 2025
Could Apple’s new AI capabilities perhaps be a looming, bandwidth-consuming dark horse?
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Feb. 2025
Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently suggested a dark horse National League team could emerge in the Alonso sweepstakes.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025
Walter Salles’ potent film has been considered an awards season dark horse but only managed to get one nomination today, in the Film Not In The English Language category.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for dark horse
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 21 Feb. 2025.
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