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
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
Moving to Charlotte, in a country and a league that Smith had no experience in, marked a sea change in his career.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
The results mark the first time more Americans have sided with the Palestinians since The New York Times first asked this question 27 years ago, in 1998, underscoring a sea change in public attitudes.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
The Beekman Place downturn also reflects a neighborhood-wide sea change that’s been happening for more than a decade.
—Kim Velsey, Curbed, 22 Sep. 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 18 Oct. 2025.
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