Synonyms

shot in the dark

Idioms

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]

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.

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

From Literature

Asking a general-use chatbot for health help used to seem like a shot in the dark—just two years ago, a study found that ChatGPT could diagnose only 2 in 10 pediatric cases correctly.

From Slate

It had all the hallmarks of a gamble, a shot in the dark.

From BBC

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

From Los Angeles Times

As hard rock and heavy metal gained a mainstream foothold in America thanks to MTV, Osbourne leaned into poppier metal sounds on 1983’s “Bark at the Moon” and 1986’s “Shot In The Dark.”

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023