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
Marlow Stern, Variety, 2 June 2026
The latest Ferrari hypercar, just unveiled in 2024, represents a sea change versus its range-topping predecessors.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 28 May 2026
The asset manager launched its first Japanese bond fund in March, underscoring the sea change that has taken place in the market.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 May 2026
With the new coach came a new system, a man/zone hybrid system that was a sea change from the zone the team played since Claude Julien was the coach.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 3 May 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 6 Jun. 2026.
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