sea change
noun
Did you know?
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
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
24 June 2026
That was the beginning of a sea change at the label.
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Michael Riedel,
Vanity Fair,
22 June 2026
Next Thursday's release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge follows this week's FOMC meeting that marked a sea change for the central bank.
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Sarah Min,
CNBC,
18 June 2026
Variety spoke with Hollywood producers, filmmakers, distributors and YouTube executives about this sea change and the young rebels taking Hollywood by storm.
—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
2 June 2026
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 26 Jun. 2026.
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