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

On top of that, perhaps the AI nudges the person further down the rabbit hole. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026

For others, a single rabbit hole offers a lifetime's worth of reward – and that's when people start to get really, really good at things. —Loz Blain january 15, New Atlas, 15 Jan. 2026

Teens are already blocked from repeatedly viewing videos that could send them down dangerous content rabbit holes, such as those idealizing certain body types. —Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 14 Jan. 2026

After falling down the rabbit hole of addiction, toxic relationships, and self-sabotage to mask the pain of her upbringing, Lidia tries to buoy herself to safety by trying to uncover her voice and find healing through the act of writing. —Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 13 Jan. 2026

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