sea change
noun
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In William Shakespeare's The Tempest, a sea change is a change brought about by the sea, as illustrated by the words of the sprite Ariel to Ferdinand, said to make the prince believe that his father has perished in a shipwreck: "Full fathom five thy father lies...; / Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change / into something rich and strange." This meaning of sea change is the original one, but it's now archaic. Long after sea change had gained its figurative meaning—that of any marked or permanent transformation—writers nonetheless 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
Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 27 Sep. 2024
These outfits are, for obvious reasons, a sea change from the string bikinis and crochet columns that Jenner was uploading to Instagram just last month.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 9 Sep. 2024
Watch on Deadline There’s been a sea change in how the industry looks at streaming, a pivot to profits over subscriber growth.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2024
The 1960s and early 1970s ushered in a sea change in the American comedy scene.
—Gregory Wakeman, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sea change 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sea change.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sea change
Cite this Entry
“Sea change.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sea%20change. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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