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sea change

sea change

19 6.3
A big, lasting difference in the way people think or do things
  • noun
  • /siː tʃeɪndʒ/
translation icon : cambio radical
  • The third title, Electronic Resources Forum, reflected the sea change in the program's purpose.
  • undergo a sea change
  • a sea change in attitude
  • represents a sea change

And kind of there's been a profound sea change and shift in how that country works.

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Examples

  • The technological advancements have led to a sea change in the way we communicate.

  • Progress has not been 100%, but there's been a sea change in attitudes toward minorities.

    Blog text (9)
  • This is a political sea change happening and no one quite knows where it's going yet.

  • So, you know, we maybe are starting to see the beginning of a sea change happening there.

  • But did this letter signal some sort of sea change in big tech?

  • At the same time, a sea change has taken place in culture and philosophy.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Career progress has been complicated by the sea change in the industry.

    Academic text (1994)
  • But he failed to account for a sea change taking place in archaeology.

    Academic text (2007)
  • And this is a sea change that I think tells us a lot about what happened when feminism stopped putting women first.

  • President Clinton cited a "sea change in public attitude" (Gest 1993, 6).

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

change
vssea change
1.1

A time when something becomes different

denotes a marked profound alteration rather than any ordinary difference
transformation
vssea change
241 3.7

A complete change in form or appearance, for example a caterpillar becoming a butterfly

emphasizes the notable profound outcome rather than the process
seismic shift
vssea change
3 6.0

A very large and sudden change in ideas, beliefs, or ways of doing things

describes profound alteration without implying suddenness or drama
tectonic shift
vssea change
1 6.8

A very big change in a field like business or public opinion

applies to profound alteration across contexts not only within one field

How Profound

revolution
810 4.1
transformation
241 3.7
sea change
19 6.3
change
1.1
shift
363 3.5

Surface Forms

sea change singular
sea changes plural

Morphology

sea + change

The headword 'change' gives the general sense of alteration while 'sea' contributes a metaphorical sense of vastness or scale, so a learner could infer that the phrase denotes a large or significant change. However, the specific nuance of a profound, notable transformation is idiomatic and historically rooted, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words may not reliably derive the exact meaning.

Etymology

Sea change comes from a poem by Shakespeare where the sea seems to change a body lost at sea into something new and strange. So now sea change means a big, deep 'change' in the way things are.