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
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
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
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 becomes a sort of rural white hope.
From Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man by Marie Conway Oemler
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.
