nonstarter
nounEtymology From non- + starter.
1
A project that has no chance of success.
- The problem with the CRFB and CBO ideas is that they would be nonstarters politically.2024 December 28, Jonathan Nicholson, “Yes, There Are Ways To Cut The Budget Deficit. 'DOGE' Hasn’t Found Them So Far.”, in HuffPost:
2
A horse that does not run in a race for which it has been entered.
3
A loser; a person who is bound to fail.
- But Berg was just a fool, a buffoon, a nonentity, a nonstarter so inept he took naps under bear bair.1999, Dana Stabenow, Hunter's Moon, →ISBN, page 225: