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

Has playing Bret or playing around in the world of The Shards rubbed off on you in terms of going down rabbit holes about Hollywood’s history around cults and serial killers? — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026

So when her son, Reed, now 15, was diagnosed with dyslexia 10 years ago, Knopf went down a rabbit hole of literacy education. — Amy Drew Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026

An investigation begins that sends the characters in this flick down an internet rabbit hole inspired by David Lynch, John Carpenter and the like. — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2026

This season, which is set in Philadelphia, Reacher has harrowing encounter on a subway train that leads down a deep rabbit hole involving a high-level government conspiracy. — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 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