just deserts

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dʒʌst dɪˈzɜːts/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dʒʌst dəˈzɚts/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

just deserts pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) A punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved.

   It may appear that they're getting ahead by cheating, but they'll get their just deserts in the end.

Usage notes

• Deserts here is the plural of desert, meaning “that which one deserves”. Desert is now rarely used outside this phrase, where it is a fossil word, except as a technical term in philosophy.
• The spelling just desserts is non-standard. It is sometimes used as a pun in, for example, restaurant names.

Synonyms

• payback, poetic justice, comeuppance, just rewards

Translations

a punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved

• Czech: po zásluze, spravedlivá odplata f, co komu patří
• French: dû (fr), juste châtiment
• German: sein Fett wegbekommen, sein Fett abbekommen (to get one's just deserts)
• Japanese: 自業自得 (ja) (jigōjitoku)
• Russian: справедливое наказа́ние (spravedlivoje nakazánije), по заслугам (ru) (po zaslugam)
• Spanish: su merecido
• Ukrainian: заслужене n (zaslužene), по заслузі (po zasluzi), відплата (vidplata)

See also

• desert principle
• get one's fairing
• get what's coming to one
• have it coming
• serve someone right

 

References

• “'Just Deserts' or 'Just Desserts'?”, in Merriam-Webster: Grammar & Usage, 2019 May 29