ripple effect

What it means

A ripple effect is the way a single event spreads its consequences outward, touching more and more people, places, or systems over time. It's used about policy decisions, layoffs, scandals, technology launches, and any change whose reach grows wider than the initial event.

Examples

• The factory closure had a ripple effect throughout the local economy.
• Her decision to speak up created a ripple effect across the company.
• Interest rate hikes have a ripple effect on every kind of borrower.
• Small kindnesses can have a surprising ripple effect over the years.

Where it comes from

From the literal image of ripples spreading outward in concentric rings when an object is dropped into still water. The figurative English use for spreading consequences became common in the mid-20th century, especially in journalism and economics.

Related idioms