Meaning & use
butterfly effect
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Meanings
nounsingulartechnical
The idea that a tiny change at the start of a complex system can lead to huge and unpredictable results later.
Grammar: Usually 'the butterfly effect': it describes how small causes grow.
Patterns
- the butterfly effect of something
Missing one bus caused the butterfly effect that led to his meeting his future wife.
Scientists use the butterfly effect to explain why weather forecasts become unreliable after a few days.
One small decision to move cities set off a butterfly effect in her career.
nounsingularfigurative
In everyday speech, any case where a minor action unexpectedly produces large consequences.
Grammar: Used loosely and figuratively: a butterfly effect in the office.
A single rude comment had a butterfly effect on the whole team's mood.
The film shows the butterfly effect of small lies growing into disasters.
Delaying that tiny repair created a butterfly effect of costly problems.
Common combinations
- the butterfly effect
- Critics talk about the butterfly effect of policy changes.
- trigger a butterfly effect
- One tweet can trigger a butterfly effect.
- illustrate the butterfly effect
- The movie illustrates the butterfly effect well.
- a kind of butterfly effect
- There was a kind of butterfly effect after the new rule.
- chaos theory and the butterfly effect
- The lecture linked chaos theory and the butterfly effect.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ripple effect
- Stresses consequences spreading outward, without the idea that the result is unpredictable.
- chain reaction
- Focuses on one event causing the next in a sequence, not on tiny causes.
- domino effect
- Suggests a row of linked failures, usually negative.
- knock-on effect
- Is a mainly British term for a secondary consequence, with no sense of chaos.
Commonly confused: butterfly effect or ripple effect?
butterfly effect vs ripple effect
Is a broader, more predictable spread of consequences; the butterfly effect stresses small origins and unpredictable size.
Practice
Which situation best shows the butterfly effect?
Choose one answer.
The butterfly effect is about a small cause with large, unpredictable results; the price rise is predictable and the other options involve no small start leading to big outcomes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “butterfly effect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.