as in dilemma
a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape
shoreline residents are finding themselves helplessly falling down a rabbit hole in their Sisyphean efforts to halt beach erosion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of rabbit hole
The crime comedy focuses on siblings Megan and Nathan who discover a dead body, long buried in their parents’ basement, sending them down a rabbit hole of crime and murder.
—
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2025
Based on the Pennsylvania haunting of the Smurl family, the film sent him down a research rabbit hole to find out all about the Warrens – a fascination that eventually turned into a hugely successful horror-movie universe.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
But there’s something about politics that gets me in a rabbit hole.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2025
Listening to documentarian Morgan Neville and actor Paul Mescal dive down the Paul McCartney rabbit hole at the Telluride brunch was one of my festival highlights.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2025
Based on the Pennsylvania haunting of the Smurl family, the film sent him down a research rabbit hole to find out all about the Warrens – a fascination that eventually turned into a hugely successful horror-movie universe.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
But there’s something about politics that gets me in a rabbit hole.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2025
Listening to documentarian Morgan Neville and actor Paul Mescal dive down the Paul McCartney rabbit hole at the Telluride brunch was one of my festival highlights.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rabbit hole
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rabbit hole
Noun
-
The company applies a sociological attention to the gestures and dilemmas of people’s daily routines; once harvested, these insights are quickly incorporated into product designs.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Drone dilemma The US excels at building large, expensive weaponry, but most American soldiers lack the know-how for fighting with unmanned systems.—
Daniel Wine,
CNN Money,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The city’s current trash predicament traces back to Measure B, a successful 2022 city ballot measure that ended the decades-long practice of San Diego providing no-fee trash service to single-family homes and many small townhome and apartment complexes.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Although Harold is not literary fiction’s first obsessive ruminator, what makes Muscle Man feel so plugged into the moment is how common the predicament feels.—
Jeremy Gordon,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Those lessons will have to come quickly, considering the season pickle the Chiefs have put themselves in.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Top with chicken mixture and pickle slices.—
Mary Claire Britton,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
New York could use help across the board, but the infield and the pitching staff are likely the two biggest holes on the roster.—
Zach Pressnell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Such landscapes were once common in North America — both in the west (where prairie dog colonies provided an abundance of holes) and in Florida (where the owls generally dig their own).—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This is the bind policymakers now face.—
William Warr,
Time,
15 Sep. 2025
-
But beyond that, the Bruins could be in a bind offensively.—
Jonas Siegel,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Cottonmouths can be found in aquatic and wetland areas like swamps, marshes, drainage ditches, ponds, lakes and streams.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Claude hatched at a Louisiana alligator farm and came to a swamp exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2008.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Dell’s Ice Blue aluminum design strikes a modern tone with its soft-rounded corners, slim display bezels, and light gray backlit keyboard.—
Charles Jefferies,
PC Magazine,
18 Sep. 2025
-
After successfully rounding the corner of generating text, the AI makers shifted into a mode of concentrating on code.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rabbit hole.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rabbit%20hole. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share