butterfly effect
noun
: a property of chaotic systems (such as the atmosphere) by which small changes in initial conditions can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variation in the future state of the system
Examples of butterfly effect in a Sentence
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Sometimes Butterflies Grow Into Dragons In a blog post titled ‘Beware the Butterflies’ Martin explains the butterfly effect, and how small changes can snowball into massive changes further into a story.
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Erik Kain, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
And these may be very inaccurate, because even the smallest deviations can have a major impact in such models—recall the famous butterfly effect, originally termed to explain the difficulties and uncertainties in weather forecasting.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 2 Aug. 2024
For time travel without all the butterfly effect nonsense, take a drive to Bisbee.
—Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 22 June 2024
And who knows what kind of butterfly effect a loss there might have had in the tight NL wild card race, where, counting tiebreakers, the Diamondbacks finished two games ahead of the seventh-place Cubs?
—Jerry Beach, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for butterfly effect 
Erik Kain, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
And these may be very inaccurate, because even the smallest deviations can have a major impact in such models—recall the famous butterfly effect, originally termed to explain the difficulties and uncertainties in weather forecasting.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 2 Aug. 2024
For time travel without all the butterfly effect nonsense, take a drive to Bisbee.
—Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 22 June 2024
And who knows what kind of butterfly effect a loss there might have had in the tight NL wild card race, where, counting tiebreakers, the Diamondbacks finished two games ahead of the seventh-place Cubs?
—Jerry Beach, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for butterfly effect
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'butterfly effect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Butterfly effect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butterfly%20effect. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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