great white hope

Idioms  

1. Something or someone that is expected to succeed. For example, Mark is the great white hope of the international division. This expression dates from the early 1900s, when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, who was black, seemed invincible and the term was used for any white opponent who might defeat him. It gained currency as the title of a Broadway play and later (1970) a film. By then it had been transferred to anyone of whom much was expected.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

great white hope

“He became the banner, the poster child for the great white hope of evangelicalism, the salvation of the church in America,” she said.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2021

Jack Wilshere remains the great white hope and we appear far too dependent on Santi Cazorla as the one class act blessed with sufficient guile to slice doughty defences.

From The Guardian ● May 18, 2013

But Voeckler has been superbly supported by his colleagues, notably the 24-year-old Pierre Rolland, who was once feted, like so many young French riders, as the great white hope.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 18, 2011

The trouble is that Washington's enemies, whose dislike for one another seems to be exceeded only by their distaste for the mayor, have been unable to decide which great white hope to get behind.

From Time Magazine Archive

He never bragged, never proclaimed that he was the great white hope or the straw that stirred the drink.

From Time Magazine Archive