-
come full circle
come full circleWhen something “comes full circle,” it completes a cycle, returns to its beginnings: “The novelist's vision of human life has come full circle — from optimism to pessimism and back to optimism again.”
-
full circle, come
full circle, comeAlso, go full circle. Complete an entire cycle; return to the original position or condition. For example, After a whole year of debate we have come full circle on this issue. Shakespeare may have originated this expression in King Lear (5:3): “The wheel is come full circle.” A 20th-century idiom with a similar meaning is what goes around comes around, as in I knew if I helped her now, she would help me later—what goes around comes around.
come full circle
Cultural-
Also, go full circle. Complete an entire cycle; return to the original position or condition. For example, After a whole year of debate we have come full circle on this issue. Shakespeare may have originated this expression in King Lear (5:3): “The wheel is come full circle.” A 20th-century idiom with a similar meaning is what goes around comes around, as in I knew if I helped her now, she would help me later—what goes around comes around.
-
see full circle.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Disney vision has now come full circle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
By night’s end, the evening had come full circle.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
It would be ironic indeed if the Metcalfe’s Law model were to help bitcoin come full circle to what its supporters originally intended it to be.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
And things have come full circle for both the comedy sketch show and its creators.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
History had come full circle, and the main action of the Cold War returned to where it had begun: to Germany, and to Berlin.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.