dark horse
See also: darkhorse
English
Etymology
Originally an allusion to an unknown horse with a dark coat winning a race, as used in the 1831 novel The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881).[1]
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
Noun
dark horse (plural dark horses)
- (idiomatic) Someone who possesses talents or favorable characteristics that are not known or expected by others.
- 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:
- ‘She’s a dark horse,’ he said. ‘She knows just as much about climbing mountains as you or I. In fact, she was ahead of me the whole time, and I lost her.’
- 2005, Steve Augarde, Celandine, London: Corgi Books, published 2006, →ISBN, page 13:
- As she pulled the door closed behind her, she heard the nurse say, “Well! You’re a dark horse, I must say! Do you know that extraordinary-looking girl?”
- 2009, Sophie Kinsella, Twenties Girl: A Novel, London: Black Swan, published 2010, →ISBN, page 183:
- “Well!” Genevieve laughs – the kind of bright, trilling laugh you give when you’re really quite annoyed about something. “Ed, you are a dark horse! I had no idea you had a girlfriend!”
- (idiomatic, politics) A candidate for an election who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice.
- (horse racing) A horse whose capabilities are not known.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dark, horse.
Derived terms
Translations
possessor of unexpected talents or favorable characteristics
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unexpectedly nominated candidate
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
Further reading
dark horse on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
- ^ Benjamin Disraeli (1831) “Chapter V: Ruined Hopes”, in The Young Duke: A Moral Tale, though Gay[1], volume II, London: “[…] and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, […] rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.”