poetic justice
an ideal distribution of rewards and punishments such as is common in some poetry and fiction.
Origin of poetic justice
1Words Nearby poetic justice
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use poetic justice in a sentence
Reality competitions switch up their rules all the time—thanks in large part to contracts with cast members that grant them an insane amount of freedom to play around—but rarely with the aim of enacting poetic justice.
Two Feminists Who Love Reality TV Wrap Their Minds Around the FBoy Island Finale | Eliana Dockterman | August 13, 2021 | TimeOr perhaps poetic justice demands that the life of an unstoppably prolix author be parceled out in multiple, overlapping volumes.
Esposito: I thought it was poetic justice that Gus would go with Tio.
‘Breaking Bad’: Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Emmy Nominations | Maria Elena Fernandez | September 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is either poetic justice or a desperate attempt by Rupert Murdoch to stop the bleeding.
Bush took firing U.S. Attorneys to a whole new level so it would be poetic justice if President Obama purged the DoJ.
This seems to be a striking illustration of "poetic justice."
A History of Art for Beginners and Students | Clara Erskine ClementI had not dared to hope for such a complete triumph of poetic justice as occurred.
The Letters of William James, Vol. 1 | William JamesIn short, your elementary class demands poetic justice—demands it strong and desires it quick.
Literature in the Elementary School | Porter Lander MacClintockRomantic as his exploit was, it lacked the fulness of poetic justice, since the chief offender escaped him.
The public of Priorton did not know whether most to admire Mrs. Spottiswoode's diplomacy, or this rare instance of poetic justice.
Girlhood and Womanhood | Sarah Tytler
British Dictionary definitions for poetic justice
fitting retribution; just deserts
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with poetic justice
An outcome in which virtue is rewarded and evil punished, often in an especially appropriate or ironic manner. For example, It was poetic justice for the known thief to go to jail for the one crime he didn't commit. [Early 1700s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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