white hope
Americannoun
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a person who is expected to accomplish much in a given field.
the white hope of the American theater.
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Sports. (formerly) a white man who had a good chance of winning the heavyweight boxing championship from a Black man.
noun
Etymology
Origin of white hope
First recorded in 1905–10
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.
“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
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
On Mr November, Alligator's rousing closer, Berninger sings "the English are waiting", and promises that as "the new blue blood, the great white hope" he will not disappoint.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 22, 2010
It has taken two decades to bear out T. S. Eliot's belief, formed in 1938, that young Durrell was a white hope of English prose.
From Time Magazine Archive
When he regained his feet the "white hope" was waiting for him, and Billy went down again to lie there, quite still, while the hand of the referee marked the seconds: One.
From The Mucker by Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
