Definition of "comeuppance" [come•up•pance]

• A punishment or retribution that one deserves; one's just deserts: "It's a chance to strike back at the critical brotherhood and give each his comeuppance for evaluative sins of the past” ( Judith Crist). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The final comeuppance is a bit of a surprise, but I have to admit problem sloughing through the Scottish dialogue, half of which I had to read through twice."
• ""If you love to hate the superrich, The Valet, a delectable comedy in which the great French actor Daniel Auteuil portrays a piggy billionaire industrialist facing his comeuppance, is a sinfully delicious bonbon," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times."
• "The Swiss miss finally recieved her comeuppance from the Japanese veteran after being up 2 breaks in the third set."