retribution in this life; karmic punishment
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
retribution in this life; karmic punishment received in one's current lifetime for wrongdoings
Originally rooted in superstitious and folk religious beliefs (Buddhist karma concepts), referring to receiving punishment within one's current lifetime rather than in the next life or after death. In modern secular usage, it broadly means 'getting one's comeuppance' or 'poetic justice' where wrongdoers face immediate consequences.
He committed all manner of evil, and ended up dying of a terminal illness at forty; everyone said it was retribution in this life.
Don't do those immoral things; be careful of receiving karmic punishment in this lifetime.
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That corrupt official was arrested right after retiring; it truly is poetic justice.
The elderly often say: goodness is rewarded with goodness, evil is rewarded with evil; it is not that it won't be rewarded, but the time has not yet come—retribution in this life will arrive sooner or later.