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Glite Dictionary
whack-a-mole

whack-a-mole

1 9.0
A situation where new problems appear as soon as you solve one
  • noun
  • /ˈwæk ə moʊl/
  • Informal
translation icon : juego del martillo
  • The city's attempts to improve traffic flow often turn into a whack-a-mole situation, with congestion popping up in unexpected places.
  • play whack-a-mole

And that's one approach, but if those are symptoms that are presenting from a problem that is underlying all of those things, you're just going to be playing whack A mole.

Examples

  • Conservatives are afraid that, with the best of intentions, indignant activists' efforts to fix structural evil often amount to a game of whack-a-mole with little to show in the end.

    Blog text (7)

  • Dealing with employee complaints feels like a whack-a-mole game where fixing one issue just leads to another.

  • In project management, solving one problem can quickly become a whack-a-mole challenge as new issues arise.

Antonyms

to solve
∞ 1.3

To find the answer to a problem or puzzle

to stabilize
  • US
75 4.3

To become steady and stop changing

How Persistent

chronic
195 4.7
whack-a-mole
  • Informal
1 9.0
recurrent
12 4.7
one-off
8 5.6

Surface Forms

whack-a-mole singular
whack-a-moles plural

Morphology

whack-a-mole = whack + mole (semi-transparent) = whack + a + mole

The compound name transparently combines 'whack' (to hit) and 'mole' (the animal) to denote the arcade game where players hit toy moles.

Etymology

The word whack-a-mole comes from a popular arcade game where a toy mole pops up from holes and you whack ('hit') it with a hammer. So, a whack-a-mole is a situation where you fix one problem and another one quickly appears.