sea change

noun

archaic : a change brought about by the sea

: a marked change : transformation

a sea change in public policy

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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

Recent Examples on the Web This sea change, though, also carries its own questions, according to critics. —

Billy Witz, New York Times, 24 May 2024 The closure of the frontier marked a watershed in immigration history but also a sea change in America’s Indigenous relations. —

Matthew Smith, The Conversation, 21 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.