nonstarter

noun3

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
2. •
   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
3. •
   A horse that does not run in a race for which it has been entered.