An unexpected success.
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 : “ and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.”
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Submitted on September 01, 2009
Additional definitions for 'dark horse':
| dark horse | A candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice. |
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to dark horse
gift horseenough to choke a horseand the horse you rode in onget back on the horse that bucked youeat like a horseget back on the horse that bucked onea dark horsecharley horsea camel is a horse designed by a commit…flog a dead horsecome down off your high horse!healthy as a horsebeat a dead horseain't no hill for a stepping horse
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"dark horse." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/dark-horse_3148>.
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