sleeper

noun/ˈsliːpər/

Frequency rank: #8,055 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

a person or thing that achieves unexpected success after being overlooked.

Illustration for the English word “sleeper”

Example sentence

The quiet student turned out to be the sleeper of the tournament, surprising everyone by reaching the final.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 8,001–8,100