sea change
noun
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In The Tempest, William Shakespeare’s final play, sea change refers to a change brought about by the sea: the sprite Ariel, who aims to make Ferdinand believe that his father the king has perished in a shipwreck, sings within earshot of the prince, “Full fathom five thy father lies...; / Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change / into something rich and strange.” This is the original, now-archaic meaning of sea change. Today the term is used for a distinctive change or transformation. Long after sea change gained this figurative meaning, however, writers continued to allude to Shakespeare’s literal one; Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, and P.G. Wodehouse all used the term as an object of the verb suffer, but now a sea change is just as likely to be undergone or experienced.
Examples of sea change in a Sentence
Miles Parks, NPR, 28 June 2025
The perception of the United States within Russia has undergone something of a sea change over the past year, suggesting that resentments dating to the Cold War may be beginning to thaw, according to new polling.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 9 June 2025
But over the last decade, a sea change in state discipline policy — one born in part out of an understanding that such suspensions disproportionately affect Black, Latino and Indigenous students — largely outlawed that kind of punishment.
—Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025
In a social media post this week teasing the lineup, Helberg suggested this year’s event highlights a sea change in the industry.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sea change
Cite this Entry
“Sea change.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sea%20change. Accessed 17 Jul. 2025.
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