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悪事身にとまる (あくじみにとまる) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

悪あく事じ身みにとまる

Meanings

1

expression, godan verb (-ru)

bad deeds punish themselves; you reap what you sow

proverb

Proverb meaning that wrongdoing eventually brings harm to oneself. Used as a warning or moral lesson.

悪あく事じ身みにとまるというから、正しょう直じきに生いきなさい。
They say bad deeds punish themselves, so live honestly.

彼かれ

は

不ふ

正せい

を

働はたら

い

た

が

、

結けっ

局きょく

捕つか

まっ

た

。

悪あく

事じ

身み

に

とまる

だ

ね

。

He committed fraud but got caught in the end. You reap what you sow.

Kanji

悪bad, vice, rascal
事matter, thing, fact
身somebody, person, one's station in life

Similar words

自じ業ごう自じ得とく
自業自得 is a four-character idiom meaning 'one's own actions, one's own results,' often used for negative consequences. 悪事身にとまる is a more specific proverb focusing on bad deeds returning to the doer.
因いん果が応おう報ほう
因果応報 is a Buddhist term for karmic retribution, broader and more formal. 悪事身にとまる is a simpler, more colloquial proverb.

Etymology

A Japanese proverb composed of 悪事 (bad deed), 身 (body/self), and とまる (to stay/stop). The literal meaning is 'bad deeds stay on oneself,' implying that wrongdoing clings to the doer and brings consequences.