Meanings
plural Pandora's boxes
- idiomaticA source of unforeseen trouble; especially, one whose effects cannot be reversed.
We have opened the AI Pandora’s box. Now we have to make the best of it.
2026 June 16, Bruce Schneier, “The Anthropic ‘Fable’ saga proves: we have opened the AI Pandora’s box. What now?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN2 more examples
There was an evil in Pandora's box Beyond all other ones, yet it came forth In guise so lovely, that men crowded round And sought it as the dearest of all treasure.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Morality of Diamonds”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 16The first thing it did was to spawn a whole Pandora's box of DNA viruses—smallpox, influenza and so on.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, pages 396–397Synonyms: Pandora's jar
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA source of unforeseen trouble; especially, one whose effects cannot be reversed.
Translations
Bulgarian кутията на Пандора
- кутията на Пандора (kutijata na Pandora)a source of unforeseen trouble
Catalan capsa de Pandora
- capsa de Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Chinese Mandarin 潘多拉魔盒, 災難之源 /灾难之源
- 潘多拉魔盒 (Pānduōlā móhé)a source of unforeseen trouble
- 災難之源 /灾难之源 (zāinàn zhī yuán)a source of unforeseen trouble
Czech Pandořina skříňka
- Pandořina skříňkaa source of unforeseen trouble
Danish Pandoras æske
- Pandoras æskea source of unforeseen trouble
Dutch doos van Pandora
- doos van Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Esperanto skatolo de Pandora
- skatolo de Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Finnish Pandoran lipas
- Pandoran lipasa source of unforeseen trouble
French boîte de Pandore
- boîte de Pandorea source of unforeseen trouble
German Pandorabüchse, Büchse der Pandora
- Pandorabüchsea source of unforeseen trouble
- Büchse der Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Greek κουτί της Πανδώρας
- κουτί της Πανδώρας (koutí tis Pandóras)a source of unforeseen trouble
Hebrew תיבת פנדורה
- תיבת פנדורהa source of unforeseen trouble
Hindi पैन्डोरा का बॉक्स
- पैन्डोरा का बॉक्स (painḍorā kā bŏks)a source of unforeseen trouble
Hungarian Pandóra szelencéje
- Pandóra szelencéjea source of unforeseen trouble
Icelandic askja Pandóru
- askja Pandórua source of unforeseen trouble
Indonesian kotak Pandora
- kotak Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Italian vaso di Pandora
- vaso di Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Japanese パンドラの箱, パンドーラーの箱
- パンドラの箱a source of unforeseen trouble
- パンドーラーの箱 (Pandōrā no hako)a source of unforeseen trouble
- 玉手箱 (tamatebako)a source of unforeseen trouble
Korean 판도라의 상자, 판도라의 함
- 판도라의 상자 (pandoraui sangja)a source of unforeseen trouble
- 판도라의 함 (pandoraui ham)a source of unforeseen trouble
- 판도라의 항아리 (pandoraui hang'ari)a source of unforeseen trouble
Latvian Pandoras lāde
- Pandoras lādea source of unforeseen trouble
Norwegian pandoraeske
- pandoraeskea source of unforeseen trouble
Polish puszka Pandory
- puszka Pandorya source of unforeseen trouble
Portuguese caixa de Pandora
- caixa de Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Punjabi ਪੰਡੋਰਾ ਦਾ ਡੱਬਾ
- ਪੰਡੋਰਾ ਦਾ ਡੱਬਾ (paṇḍorā dā ḍabbā)a source of unforeseen trouble
Romanian cutia Pandorei
- cutia Pandoreia source of unforeseen trouble
Russian я́щик Пандо́ры
- я́щик Пандо́ры (jáščik Pandóry)a source of unforeseen trouble
Spanish caja de Pandora
- caja de Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Swedish Pandoras ask, pandorasask
- Pandoras aska source of unforeseen trouble
- pandorasaska source of unforeseen trouble
Tamil பண்டோராவின் பெட்டி
- பண்டோராவின் பெட்டி (paṇṭōrāviṉ peṭṭi)a source of unforeseen trouble
Turkish Pandora'nın kutusu
- Pandora'nın kutusua source of unforeseen trouble
Ukrainian скринька Пандори
- скринька Пандори (skrynʹka Pandory)a source of unforeseen trouble
Vietnamese chiếc hộp Pandora
- chiếc hộp Pandoraa source of unforeseen trouble
Cite this entry
Pandora's box. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pandora's%20box
“Pandora's box.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pandora's%20box. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pandora's box,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pandora's%20box.
Source: Pandora's box on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.