Definition

Noun: A person or thing that is expected to achieve great success or to solve a major problem, often carrying the hopes of a particular group or community.

Usage

This term is used to describe someone or something that is seen as a potential savior or a source of future success. It often implies that a lot of expectation and pressure is placed on this person or thing.

Examples

• The young rookie is the team's white hope to win the championship next season.
• Many voters saw the new candidate as the white hope for political reform.
• This experimental drug is the medical community's white hope for treating the disease.

Advanced Usage

• The term can sometimes carry an ironic or critical tone, suggesting the hopes placed on the person or thing may be unrealistic or excessive.
  • After several failed projects, the latest software update is the department's fading white hope.

Variants and Related Words

• Great white hope: An intensified form of the term, often used in journalism or commentary.
  • The startup was hailed as the great white hope of the renewable energy sector.

Synonyms

• Prodigy
• Wunderkind
• Golden boy/girl
• Savior

Notes on Meaning

• The term originates from early 20th-century boxing, where it was used to describe a white boxer who was hoped to defeat the reigning champion, who was often Black. Modern usage has broadened significantly beyond this original, now largely obsolete and problematic context, to refer to any highly touted prospect in any field. However, users should be aware of its historical connotations.

Noun

1. someone (or something) expected to achieve great success in a given field
   • this company is the great white hope of the nuclear industry's waste management policy