paradigm shift

[par-uh-dahym shift]

noun

1. a dramatic change in the paradigm of a scientific community, or a change from one scientific paradigm to another.

2. a significant change in the paradigm of any discipline or group.

   Putting skilled, tenured teachers in failing schools would cause a paradigm shift in teaching and education.

paradigm shift

noun

1. a radical change in underlying beliefs or theory

Word History and Origins

Origin of paradigm shift¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Word History and Origins

Origin of paradigm shift¹

C20: coined by T.S. Kuhn (1922–96), US philosopher of science

Example Sentences

“What we are witnessing is a paradigm shift in real time,” Berg said.

From Los Angeles Times

Arno Puder, professor and chair of San Francisco State University’s computer science department, said generative AI represents a historic “paradigm shift.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Every sort of paradigm shift, you need a crisis,” Yu said.

From Los Angeles Times

To what extent do you think that the paradigm shift required for us to live in a relationship of equality and interdependence with the natural world needs us to take on animist ways of thinking, an interest in trading jokes with whales, a desire to speak of rivers using pronouns, or even the fervent love of nature of someone who lives closely with it or for whom its study is a profession or a way or life?

From Salon

Consider the biotechnology industry as one such paradigm shift.

From Los Angeles Times