just deserts
just deserts
Meaning | Synonyms
- get what one deserves
- punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved
- what you deserve
- what’s coming to you
- retribution
- a punishment or reward
Example Sentences
- After the supervisor was suspended, many workers felt that he got his just deserts.
- He killed my innocent bird, but got his just deserts when he was beaten by somebody for abusing.
- Our neighbor Mr. Jones got just deserts when he was left helpless in need by her wife, he never ever respected her.
- Sarah has got no sympathy for her son and husband, she got his just deserts.
- The criminals must always receive their just desserts.
- Be patience – those who cheated you will get their just deserts one day.
- Those who work honestly will receive their just desserts.
Origin
1275–1325; Middle English < Old French deserte.
Possible Confusion:
In fact its deserts, not desserts
The idiom is frequently reasonably written just desserts. Using just desserts is not an error, and it is much more common than just deserts in 21st-century texts.
Share your opinions5 Opinions
Leaving the final e rather than discarding it in adding the plural signifier would lessen confusion: just desertes — the final 4 letters being pronounced just as with the (albeit most singular) Descartes.
‒ Stephanie Soressi September 8, 2023
Webster’s Universal College Dictionary has 3 meanings for the word desert.
1. an arid, sandy region
2. to leave (a person, place) without intending to return
3. reward or punishment
Accordingly, it should be “He got his just deserts.”
‒ Carolyn Landry September 2, 2023
@Photog please do more re-surge. The sudden flow of exclamations will overwell you.
‒ Mike Wuzouski July 1, 2023
“At the end of the book the child’s true identity is discovered, and the bad guys get their just deserts.”
‒ canilecanan May 27, 2021
Ummm … it’s desserts …. With two “ss “ …. Desert is the hot sandy place with an oasis …. Like the Sahara.
‒ Photog May 21, 2021