winds of change

noun

The inexorable process of inevitable societal and political change and progress over time.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounwinds of change pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyThe inexorable process of inevitable societal and political change and progress over time.

Origin

Coined by UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1960 in a speech advocating decolonization made in Cape Town, South Africa, which referred to the "wind of change […] blowing through this continent", later shifting to the plural "winds of change" in popular usage.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

winds of change. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winds%20of%20change

MLA

“winds of change.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winds%20of%20change. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “winds of change,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winds%20of%20change.

Source: winds of change on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.