shot in the dark
Completely uninformed attempt
A shot in the dark is an attempt made without much information or reasonable expectation of success—like firing a gun in darkness, hoping to hit something.
It often introduces a guess: This is a shot in the dark, but did you used to live in Portland?
The phrase acknowledges low odds while still trying.
- leap of faithTrust without verification
- guessEstimate without certainty
- blind guessAttempt without information
- long oddsUnfavorable probability ratio
- gambleStake on uncertain outcome
roll of the dice · speculation · conjecture · intuition · venture · hunch · assumption · stab · Hail Mary · hazard · uncertainty · guesstimate · risk · surmise · hypothesis · wager · approximation · precariousness
- combat idiomsstab in the back, dodge a bullet, in the crosshairs, fire away, under the gun
- guessesguess, conjecture, supposition, speculation, surmise
- guessingguess, prediction, hypothesis, conjecture, speculation
- risk phrasestake a chance, take a gamble, risk it all, go for broke, roll the dice
- shotsB-52, Jagerbomb, Kamikaze, lemon drop, buttery nipple
- uncertaintyuncertainty, uncertain, unknown, unsure, unclear
shot in the darkeducated guess
Reasoned speculation from facts
sure thing · safe bet · known quantity · certainty · informed decision
shot in the darkbull's-eye
Target's central circle
direct hit · precision strike · pinpoint accuracy · surgical strike · sniper shot
dark, shot, shoot, darkness, darken, shooting, shots, shooter, snapshot