long shot

noun

ˈlȯŋ-ˌshät How to pronounce long shot (audio)
Synonyms of long shotnext
1
: a venture involving great risk but promising a great reward if successful
also : a venture unlikely to succeed
2
: an entry (as in a horse race) given little chance of winning
3
: a bet in which the chances of winning are slight but the possible winnings great
see also:
by a long shot

Examples of long shot in a Sentence

I hope to double my profits, but I know that's a long shot. The horse was a long shot, but we bet on him anyway. She always bets on long shots at the racetrack.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But Harvie, a former high school social studies teacher and county commissioner, is still a long shot to win. — Justin Papp, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026 Both teams are long shots in the Big 12 title race, but Saturday’s winner can maintain some hope of making a late-season push to the conference title game at AT&T Stadium in December. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2026 Even if success is a long shot, human experimentation poses significant ethical questions over risks and benefits. — Mike McRae 21, New Atlas, 22 Oct. 2026 By his own account, most of the industry considers LMR a long shot, and GM made the call with perhaps 60% to 70% of the data. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for long shot

Word History

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of long shot was in 1796

Rhymes for long shot

See All Rhymes for long shot

Browse Nearby Words

long-short story
long shot
longshucks
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Long shot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/long%20shot. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

long shot

noun
ˈlȯŋ-ˌshät How to pronounce long shot (audio)
1
: a great risk that promises a great reward if successful
2
: an entry (as in a horse race) given little chance of winning

More from Merriam-Webster on long shot

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for long shot

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All