comeuppance

plural comeuppances · alternative come-uppance · alternative comeupance

1. uncountableusuallyRetribution or outcome that is justly deserved.

   The Yankees got their comeuppance in Milwaukee when the Braves piled up a record score for the first inning of a World Series game.

   1958 October 13, “Yankee Comeuppance in a Lousy Inning”, in Life, volume 45, number 15, page 34

   5 more examples

   So when Brown's second wife turned out a reg'lar ternygrunt, I wa'n't in no wise upset, for he needed a comeuppance, an' he got it in her.

   1883, Albion Winegar Tourgée, editor, The Continent; an illustrated weekly magazine, volume 3

   The Sunday edition of the principal morning paper even expressed some bitterness under the heading, "Gilded Youths of the Fin-de-Siecle"--this was considered the knowing phrase of the time, especially for Sunday supplements--and there is no doubt that from certain references in this bit of writing some people drew the conclusion that Mr. George Amberson Minafer had not yet got his comeuppance, a postponement still irritating.

   1918, Booth Tarkington, chapter 10, in The Magnificent Ambersons

   May they soon be resumed when Hitler, that dirty little housepainter, gets his comeuppance; and Hirohito finds our heroes turning on the heat-o.

   1943 December 21, “Looking for a Christmas Tree”, in Fibber McGee and Molly, spoken by Dennis Driscoll

   I have to say it again, my Dearest Friend. What a wonderful Comedown for the Godhead! What a wonderful Comeuppance for Humankind! That’s because You, Lord God, Creator, Bellows Maker of All That Breathes, deigned to come to my hovel of a soul; once there, to fatten up the leanness of my soul with the plumpitude of Your Sacrament; that’s to say, with the plenitude of Your Divinity and Humanity.

   2000, Thomas à Kempis, “[The Sacrament of the Altar: How to Prepare for It & What It Tastes Like] Frequency”, in William Griffin, transl., The Imitation of Christ: How Jesus Wants Us to Live […] A Contemporary Version, HarperSanFrancisco, →ISBN, page 238

   […] in the anonymous A New Gift for Children (1750), perhaps America's first secular storybook, and its tales of children who are good and merit rewards, and tales of children who are otherwise and receive their comeuppances.

   2004, Peter Hunt, Sheila G. Bannister Ray, editors, International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, page 862

   Synonyms: just deserts, instant karma