Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for "rabbit hole"
SEE ALSO:
Slang dictionary results for rabbit hole.

rabbit hole

American  
[rab-it hohl] / ˈræb ɪt ˌhoʊl /

noun

  1. a tunnel made in the ground by a rabbit; a rabbit burrow.

  2. Informal. a strange, disorienting, or frustrating situation or experience, typically one that is difficult to navigate: I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.

    I had a history of depression and occasionally fell down dark, deep rabbit holes from which only medication and therapy could pull me out.

    I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.

  3. Informal. a time-consuming distraction of one's attention as happens when clicking through online links, following social media posts, or pursuing information.

    After diving down an internet rabbit hole and poring over treatments, risks, and so on, she felt even more panicked.


Etymology

Origin of rabbit hole

First recorded in 1660–70; rabbit hole def. 2 was first recorded in 1935–40, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"I found out about them through T.O.P in Squid Game and then fell down a rabbit hole," Gemma says.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Investigating everything further — following Alice down the rabbit hole and fighting alongside her to preserve what makes us human — might be laborious at times, sure.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

So I threw myself down one rabbit hole after another.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

She discovered Awad’s fiction when she went down a BookTube dark academia genre-themed rabbit hole.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

How could anyone go this far down the rabbit hole without realizing they needed help?

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training