Meanings
present singular third person opens Pandora's box · participle present opening Pandora's box · participle past opened Pandora's box · past opened Pandora's box
- idiomaticTo perform an action that causes problems to appear which did not exist beforehand, or were not known about prior.
It’s a thin line between charming, candy-flavored verisimilitude and craven commercialism, and if Spielberg ultimately stayed on the right side of it, “E.T.” nevertheless helped open a Pandora’s box of product placement.
2022 August 4, Adam Nayman, “Five Sci-Fi Classics, One Summer: How 1982 Shaped Our Present”, in The New York Times
Translations
Finnish avata Pandoran lipas
- avata Pandoran lipasto perform an action that causes problems
French ouvrir la boîte de Pandore
- ouvrir la boîte de Pandoreto perform an action that causes problems
Polish otwierać puszkę Pandory, otworzyć puszkę Pandory
- otwierać puszkę Pandoryto perform an action that causes problems
- otworzyć puszkę Pandoryto perform an action that causes problems
Romanian deschide cutia Pandorei
- deschide cutia Pandoreito perform an action that causes problems
Turkish Pandora'nın kutusunu açmak
- Pandora'nın kutusunu açmakto perform an action that causes problems
Cite this entry
open Pandora's box. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20Pandora's%20box
“open Pandora's box.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20Pandora's%20box. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “open Pandora's box,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20Pandora's%20box.
Source: open Pandora's box on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.