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white hope

American  

noun

  1. a person who is expected to accomplish much in a given field.

    the white hope of the American theater.

  2. Sports. (formerly) a white man who had a good chance of winning the heavyweight boxing championship from a Black man.


white hope British  

noun

  1. informal a person who is expected to bring honour or glory to his group, team, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

“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

Great white hope: the new and intimidating Chrysler 300C is actually softer looking than the outgoing model.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 9, 2012

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

We will be disappointed if Eugene O'Neill, the white hope of the American drama, was not there.

From Pieces of Hate And Other Enthusiams by Heywood Broun

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