shot in the dark

American  

idiom

1. a guess made without guidance or information: stab in the dark.

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shot in the dark More Idioms  

1. A wild, unsubstantiated guess; also, an attempt that has little chance for success. For example, It was a shot in the dark, but the engineers had a hunch that replacing the valve would make the system work, or You can try looking for your key on the beach, but I think it's a shot in the dark. [Colloquial; late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shot in the dark

Tech leaders say it’s sometimes a shot in the dark knowing what the limit should be for a given job title, and even harder to know when to extend or enforce that limit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

It’s just a giant shot in the dark, and instinct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025

It was a "shot in the dark," Wang said, given that the two scientists had never conducted a study in humans.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2024

Yet Toyota isn’t taking a shot in the dark.

From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

Corban asked, but from his tone I could tell this was a 100 percent shot in the dark.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin