dark horse
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See also: darkhorse
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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): “ […] and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, […] rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.”[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
dark horse (plural dark horses)
- (idiomatic) Someone who possesses talents or favorable characteristics that are not known or expected by others.
- 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 with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see dark, horse.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
dark horse on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References[edit]
- ^ Benjamin Disraeli (1831), “Chapter V: Ruined Hopes”, in The Young Duke: A Moral Tale, though Gay[1], volume II, London.