dark horse

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Xiaomi in particular was a "dark horse", she said, its debut AI glasses the third best-selling of their kind for the first half of 2025 despite only being on sale for about a week.

From Barron's • Dec. 3, 2025

After more than a century of false starts, the dark horse of the renewable-energy industry seems finally poised to make a significant dent in America’s insatiable appetite for new sources of power.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

The medical drama entered the night as a dark horse contender, with many predicting Apple TV+‘s “Severance” would win the category.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2025

By some accounts, he was a dark horse in a conclave race which many predicted would deliver unto us a Pope Pizzaballa.

From Salon • May 10, 2025

And Jan Dorlich, we discover, is a dark horse as an actor.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron