Alice in Wonderland
Down the rabbit-hole
Alice in Wonderland describes situations marked by absurdity, logical impossibility, or surreal distortion of normal reality—drawn from Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel about a girl who falls into a fantastical underground world.
The phrase often characterizes bureaucratic nonsense or experiences where ordinary rules don't apply: Navigating the healthcare system felt like an Alice in Wonderland experience.
An Alice in Wonderland quality suggests things are bizarre yet oddly compelling.
- Victorian EnglandNineteenth-century British imperial period
- Cheshire CatFading striped feline
- catSmall furry housepet
- keyLock-opening device
- caterpillarMoth or butterfly young
Lewis Carroll · nonsense · cake · Jabberwocky · white rabbit · curious · curiouser and curiouser · growing · tea party · tea · shrinking · drink me · rabbit hole · mushroom · mad hatter · unbirthdays · cards · pack of cards
- British LiteratureShakespeare, Dickens, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Austen
- British ClassicsPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- British novelsPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist
- Lewis CarrollJabberwocky, Cheshire, Queen of Hearts, Humpty Dumpty, White Queen
- children's booksfairy tales, nursery rhymes, picture books, bedtime stories, Harry Potter
Alice in Wonderlandkitchen sink realism
Drama of everyday hardship
social realism · naturalism · documentary fiction · neorealism · realist fiction
Alice in Wonderlandhard science fiction
Speculative fiction emphasizing accuracy
detective fiction · Sherlock Holmes · whodunit · Encyclopedia Brown
Alice in Wonderlandtragedy
Disastrous or sorrowful event
Greek tragedy · King Lear · Schindler's List · The Road · gravitas
wondering, wondered, wonders, wondrous, wonderment, Alice, wonderer, Alicia, wonderwork