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
Jessica Chastain
especially
: one in which the pursuit of something (such as an answer or solution) leads to other questions, problems, or pursuits
While trying to find the picture again on Google, I fell down the Cosmo rabbit hole, scrolling through a gallery of swimwear, then through "How to Be Sexier-Instantly" and then through all 23 slides of "Sexy Ideas for Long Hair." —Edith Zimmerman
Edith Zimmerman 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
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
Josh Wigler and Zoe Haylock 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
That sent me spiraling into another Google rabbit hole.
—Kelli Acciardo, Allure, 24 June 2025
But that immediate attraction to her gross-out humor led him and others down a rabbit hole of material she’s cultivated for years.
—Nate Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2025
There were plenty of poison-pen letters written in life and in literature—a rabbit hole that might provide some distraction to a grieving woman.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 15 June 2025
Sometimes, shopping on Amazon is like a rabbit hole—there’s so much to discover, much of it surprisingly game-changing for your daily life.
—Quincy Bulin, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
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Kelli Acciardo, Allure, 24 June 2025
But that immediate attraction to her gross-out humor led him and others down a rabbit hole of material she’s cultivated for years.
—Nate Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2025
There were plenty of poison-pen letters written in life and in literature—a rabbit hole that might provide some distraction to a grieving woman.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 15 June 2025
Sometimes, shopping on Amazon is like a rabbit hole—there’s so much to discover, much of it surprisingly game-changing for your daily life.
—Quincy Bulin, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
Cite this Entry
“Rabbit hole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabbit%20hole. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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