poetical justice
The idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice…The idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished.
UK/pəʊˌɛtɪkl̩ ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/US/poʊˌɛtɪk(ə)l ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/
Meaning
2 senses(uncountable)The idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished.
(broadly, uncountable)Synonym of poetic justice (“the fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner”).
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
From poetical + justice, coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 171From 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.
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Synonyms
1 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable