Phrase guide

sea change

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsiːˌt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A profound transformation; a metamorphosis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Public opinion has undergone a sea change since the 2002 elections.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: development, transfiguration, transmogrification, conversion, metamorphosis, transfigurement, transformation, transmutation, sea change

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a profound transformation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: transformation, transmutation, shift

History

Etymology

From Act I, scene ii, of The Tempest (1610–1611) by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), spelling modernized: “Full fathom five thy father lies, / Of his bones are coral made: / Those are pearls that were his eyes, / Nothing of him that doth fade, / But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange”. The passage refers to how a drowned man’s body lying on the sea bed had been transformed by the sea.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تغير البحر (taghayar albahr) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巨變 /巨变 (jùbiàn) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Dutch: fundamentele verandering — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Finnish: käännekohta — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • French: changement en profondeur — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Georgian: მკვეთრი ცვლილება (mḳvetri cvlileba) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Georgian: სრული გარდაქმნა (sruli gardakmna) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Georgian: მეტამორფოზი (meṭamorpozi) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Georgian: ტრანსფორმაცია (ṭranspormacia) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • German: Gezeitenwechsel — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Pashto: د سمندري بدلون (de smendree bidloon) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Persian: دگرگونی (degarguni) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Persian: انقلاب (enqelâb) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Russian: по́лная трансформа́ция (pólnaja transformácija) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Russian: по́лное измене́ние (pólnoje izmenénije) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Spanish: cambio profundo — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Spanish: cambio radical — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis
  • Urdu: سمندر کی تبدیلی (smender kee tbdele) — profound transformation — see also metamorphosis