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
Thomas Tracy, Boston Herald, 11 Sep. 2025
But a subtle shift in approach to the Jewish state could signal a sea change in the Middle East.
—semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The duo launch the show amid a sea change in sports TV.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
Sea Change Clearly, there’s been a sea change since the Great Recession (October 2007 through March 2009).
—John Dorfman, Forbes.com, 1 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 15 Sep. 2025.
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