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Dark horse

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Someone who possesses talents or favorable characteristics that are not known or expected by others. idiomatic

    "‘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.’"

  2. 2
    a racehorse about which little is known wordnet
  3. 3
    A candidate for an election who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice. idiomatic

    "That left Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69 — a quiet American dark horse who had, surprisingly, emerged in the evening’s vote — as a source of particular interest."

  4. 4
    a political candidate who is not well known but could win unexpectedly wordnet
  5. 5
    A horse whose capabilities are not known.
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  1. 6
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dark, horse.

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).

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