Dark-horse definition

One who achieves unexpected support and success as a political candidate, typically during a party's convention.
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A little-known, unexpectedly successful entrant, as in a horserace.
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An unexpected winner in a horse race, thought beforehand to have very little chance.
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An almost unknown contestant regarded by few as a likely winner.
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(politics) A person who gets or may get the nomination unexpectedly, often by a compromise.
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(idiomatic, politics) A candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice.
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(rare) An unexpected success.

Everyone was expecting the red team to win, but the greens were the dark horse in the event.

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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
dark-horse
Plural:
dark-horses

Origin of dark-horse

  • Originally an allusion to an unknown horse winning a race, as used in an 1831 novel The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli.

    From Wiktionary