A sea change
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
A profound transformation in character, condition, policy or outlook. Means a major transformation, not merely any alteration. Hyphenation is optional in modern use. Regional use: Origin in English drama; now international English.
Origin
Ariel's song in The Tempest, written around 1610-11, imagines a drowned body suffering 'a sea-change into something rich and strange'. The change is literally worked by the sea and is complete rather than a small shift in weather or tide. Later figurative use retained the idea of deep transformation but detached it from death and the ocean.
Research Sources
Variants
- Sea-change
- Undergo a sea change
- Suffer a sea change
Usage Examples
- Remote work produced a sea change in the firm's approach to recruitment.
- Her second novel marks a sea change in tone and ambition.
- The ruling brought about a sea change in public access to the records.