Pandora's box

noun

Pan·​do·​ra's box pan-ˈdȯr-əz- 

: a prolific source of troubles

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The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven to give to the human race, which originally consisted only of men. To punish humanity, the other gods created the first woman, the beautiful Pandora. As a gift, Zeus gave her a box, which she was told never to open. However, as soon as he was out of sight she took off the lid, and out swarmed all the troubles of the world, never to be recaptured. Only Hope was left in the box, stuck under the lid. Anything that looks ordinary but may produce unpredictable harmful results can thus be called a Pandora's box.

Examples of Pandora's box in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There is also the possibility that the AI worries that humans will open Pandora's box. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 5 May 2023

The police have had bomb disposal robots forever, but the Pandora's box of weaponizing them was originally opened by the Dallas Police Department. —Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 30 Nov. 2022

Blonde was a philosophical Pandora's box. —Arabelle Sicardi, Allure, 19 Nov. 2022

Thompson said the trigger ban has opened up Pandora's box, creating a wave of tragedy and trauma for women across the state. —ABC News, 16 Sep. 2022

Donham's unpublished memoir shows that the Pandora's box opened by Till's brutal death remains opened. —Peniel Joseph, CNN, 22 July 2022

And that means Pandora's box has opened... ... —John S. Tobey, Forbes, 5 May 2022

But rather than put the dispute to bed, his decision opened up a Pandora's box of new problems for the state. —Colin Lodewick, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2022

Now all that's left to do is to open and unleash the joys of Pandora's box of talent into the world. —Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 7 Aug. 2021

Word History

Etymology

from the box, sent by the gods to Pandora, which she was forbidden to open and which loosed a swarm of evils upon humankind when she opened it out of curiosity

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above