shot in the dark

Idioms and Phrases

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

It was a "shot in the dark," Wang said, given that the two scientists had never conducted a study in humans.

From Science Daily

“This feels like it’s a delay for delay’s sake and it’s a shot in the dark.”

From Seattle Times

Yet Toyota isn’t taking a shot in the dark.

From New York Times

“Three times is excessive. I think they're just taking a shot in the dark here. It just sounds like a ‘Hail Mary’ pass,” Carolyn E. Demarest, a retired state judge, told the Daily Beast.

From Salon

Ashley Cooke, “Shot in the Dark” Top-shelf wordplay — and a gently love-drunk melody — from a promising Nashville up-and-comer: “Who knew two straight tequilas on a debit card / Would wind us up right where we are? / So here’s to two strangers in the back of a bar / Taking a shot in the dark.”

From Los Angeles Times