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
Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 24 June 2024
Another major tech trend lately is the work-from-home sea change brought about by the pandemic.
—Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 18 Apr. 2024
Still, Serial continues to have an outsized impact on our cultural understanding of the criminal justice system, and this sea change ultimately came full circle back to Adnan Syed.
—Aja Romano, Vox, 3 June 2024
Biden’s large-scale investments in industrial policy mark a departure from previous administrations and have triggered a sea change in both domestic and global policy debates.
—Mariana Mazzucato, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 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
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“Sea change.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sea%20change. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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