ripple effect

noun

: a spreading, pervasive, and usually unintentional effect or influence

the automotive industry has a ripple effect on many other industries

compare domino effect

Examples of ripple effect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The chaos also had ripple effects abroad, with Italy and France pledging to tighten their controls on people arriving from Spain. — ABC News, 31 July 2026

And that has a ripple effect on everything that follows—including whether their best messaging ever gets a chance to do its job. — Sonia Thompson, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Its ripple effects in winds, rain and ocean currents can extend across the world's oceans. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 30 July 2026

But Brian can’t resist warning his past self about the impending 9/11 attacks, and this results in a ripple effect that eventually transforms our characters’ world into a postnuclear hellscape. — Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 25 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ripple effect

• aftereffect
• interconnect
• affect
• aspect
• bedecked
• bisect
• collect
• connect
• correct
• deflect
• detect
• direct