comeuppance

/kʌmˈʌpəns/ (bre, ipa) · /kʌmˈʌpəns/ (ame, ipa) · /(ˌ)kəm-ˈə-pən(t)s/ (ame, mw)

comeuppance — noun

1. a bad outcome someone gets that strikes onlookers as exactly what their earlier

1.名詞C2
釋義

a bad outcome someone gets that strikes onlookers as exactly what their earlier wrongdoing should bring on them.

例句

The bully finally got his comeuppance when Obi stood up to him in class.

collocation: get one's comeuppance

Audiences love stories where a greedy villain receives his comeuppance in the final scene.

collocation: receive one's comeuppance

同義詞
  • just deserts

    very close synonym; slightly more formal in tone

  • retribution

    more formal, often suggests deliberate punishment by an agent

  • karma

    informal; broader, includes any return for past actions, good or bad

反義詞
  • reward

    positive return for good actions, opposite of a deserved bad outcome

文法句型

get/receive/have one's comeuppance

用法筆記

Almost always appears with a possessive (his / her / their / its) and a verb of receiving (get, receive, have, face). The wrongdoer is the grammatical possessor.

常見錯誤

❌He gave his enemy a comeuppance.
✅His enemy finally got his comeuppance.
💡the wrongdoer receives it; someone else does not actively give it.
❌She felt a comeuppance after lying.
✅She got her comeuppance after lying.
💡comeuppance is the external outcome others see as fair, not an inner feeling.