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dark horse
dark horse
1. Someone who unexpectedly wins a competition. Nobody thought Cheri could win the race after breaking her leg last year, but she turned out to be a dark horse and took first place. No one thought the brash newcomer would be a threat to the established candidates, but he's turning out to be a real dark horse in this campaign.
2. Someone who surprises others with their skills or talents. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Angela was suddenly viewed as a dark horse when she displayed her beautiful sculptures at the art fair. Nobody knew she had such artistic talent.
dark horse
Fig. someone or something whose abilities, plans, or feelings are little known to others. (From a race horse about which little or nothing is known.) It's difficult to predict who will win the prize—there are two or three dark horses in the tournament. Everyone was surprised at the results of the election. The dark horse won.
dark horse
A little known, unexpectedly successful entrant, as in You never can tell-some dark horse may come along and win a Senate seat. This metaphoric expression originally alluded to an unknown horse winning a race and was so used in a novel by Benjamin Disraeli ( The Young Duke, 1831). It soon began to be transferred to political candidates, among the first of whom was James K. Polk. He won the 1844 Democratic Presidential nomination on the eighth ballot and went on to win the election.
dark horse
1. n. an unknown entrant into a contest; a surprise candidate for political office. The party is hoping that a dark horse will appear before the election.
2. mod. previously unknown. A dark horse player can win if all the others are creeps.
Common Names:
| Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
|---|
| Lucien | | - | French |
| Kudret | | - | Turkish |
| Sylvi | | SUYL-vee (Finnish) | Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish |
| Dom | | DAHM | English |
| Ervin | | - | Hungarian, Croatian |
| Astarte | | əs-TAHR-tee (English) | Near Eastern Mythology (Hellenized), Biblical Greek |