rabbit hole

noun

: a complexly bizarre or difficult state or situation conceived of as a hole into which one falls or descends

I wanted to show this woman descending into the rabbit hole: this loss of self, becoming a servant to her job and to the work.

—Jessica Chastain

especially : one in which the pursuit of something (such as an answer or solution) leads to other questions, problems, or pursuits

… I went around telling all my friends about the samurai colony that once existed in Northern California. No one had ever heard of it. And, up until a few days before, deep down another internet rabbit hole, neither had I.

—Katie Dowd

Because it is so early on in this work it is easy to say that we are either at the edge of a remarkable new and useful science or that we are careering down an environmental rabbit hole.

—Jack Hitt

In the season-two premiere of HBO's Westworld, viewers were again tossed down a rabbit hole filled with theories, where one open door leads to many more closed ones.

—Josh Wigler and Zoe Haylock

Synonyms of rabbit hole

• dilemma
• predicament
• pickle
• hole
• bind
• swamp
• corner

Examples of rabbit hole in a Sentence

shoreline residents are finding themselves helplessly falling down a rabbit hole in their Sisyphean efforts to halt beach erosion

Recent Examples on the Web

For that reason, chatbots—like social media—can draw users down rabbit holes, though the user tends to initiate the digging. —Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2025

As Robinson‘s Ron Trosper falls down a customer service rabbit hole and uncovers a conspiracy, the show veers from mundane reality to darkly comic surrealism and steadily evolves into one of the best and most surprising TV shows of 2025. —Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 3 Nov. 2025

This sent Teddy down a rabbit hole of Internet conspiracy theories that ultimately led to him latching onto the idea that Michelle is an alien-in-disguise from the Andromeda galaxy who was sent to Earth as part of a plot to wipe out humanity. —Megan McCluskey, Time, 31 Oct. 2025

As for the actual conspiracy investigation, Ron and Mike make some headway in this episode, traveling several layers deeper down the Tecca rabbit hole. —Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the rabbit hole that Alice enters in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rabbit hole

• amphibole
• asystole
• buttonhole
• casserole
• centriole
• decontrol
• glycerol
• metropole
• monopole
• multipole
• omeprazole
• oriole