1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

pandora's boxes

noun

plural of pandora's box
as in trials
a source of many troubles; something that will lead to many problems Their parents are understandably afraid of opening a pandora's box if they buy their oldest child a car.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pandora's boxes
  1. trials
  2. pinpricks
Noun
  • Here’s how to sign up — and grab those juicy free trials — before the full-fledged arrival of one of television’s biggest nights.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The company recently scrapped three trials on an experimental cardiovascular drug.
    — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of trials
Noun
  • Father's Day, like so many holidays, birthdays and anniversaries, can be sharp pinpricks in a long expanse of grief that bring a flood of memories and pain to the surface.
    — Shay Martin, PEOPLE, 21 June 2026
  • The snapshot, based on data collected in 2025 and released this week, highlights water ice in bright blue alongside intertwining dark dust lanes that weave through the region, dotted with pinpricks of light from newborn stars.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 23 Apr. 2026
Definition of pinpricks
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

pandora's box
pandora's boxes
panegyric
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pandora's boxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pandora%27s%20boxes. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of elegiac

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All