noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/pəʊˌɛtɪk ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/poʊˌɛtɪk ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/
General-American:[-ɾɪk-]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of poetical justice (“the idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: poetical justice
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
Qualifier: generally
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: poetical justice
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
an outcome in which virtue triumphs over vice (often ironically)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: just deserts
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: result, resultant, final result, outcome, termination
History
Etymology
From poetic + justice, a variant of poetical justice, coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 1713) in the work The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d and Examin’d (1678): see the quotation.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
عدالة شعرية
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Esperanto:
poezia justo
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Finnish:
runollinen oikeudenmukaisuus
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
French:
justice immanente
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Galician:
xustiza poética
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Georgian:
პოეტური სამართლიანობა
(ṗoeṭuri samartlianoba)
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Hebrew:
צדק פואטי
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Italian:
giustizia poetica
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Japanese:
勧善懲悪
(kanzenchōaku)
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Macedonian:
заслу́жена ка́зна
(zaslúžena kázna)
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Malayalam:
കാവ്യനീതി
(kāvyanīti)
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Persian:
عدالت شاعرانه
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Polish:
poetycka sprawiedliwość
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Portuguese:
justiça poética
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
Swedish:
poetisk rättvisa
— fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner
