karma

karma — noun

1. Within Hindu and Buddhist teachings, the moral energy that a person accumulates

1.nounB2
Definition

Within Hindu and Buddhist teachings, the moral energy that a person accumulates through their deeds and choices during one lifetime, which shapes the circumstances of the life they enter after death.

Example

Many Buddhists believe that a person's karma in this life shapes their next rebirth.

karma + 'shapes next rebirth' — religious context

Cyrus hoped his years of generous giving would create good karma for his next life.

good karma from virtuous actions

Common collocations
  • good karma
  • bad karma
  • build karma
  • create karma
  • karma from past lives
Synonyms
  • destiny

    Focuses on what is fated to happen, without implying that your own actions created it.

  • fate

    Suggests an outside force controls events; karma puts the cause in your own hands.

Grammar Patterns

karma as an uncountable noun

Usage Note

Typically uncountable and used without an article. In religious contexts, karma operates across lifetimes — do not confuse with the everyday sense of 'instant payback' (sense 2).

Common Mistakes

I got bad karma for lying to my mum yesterday.
I got instant karma for lying to my mum yesterday.
Using 'karma' for immediate, same-day payback fits the everyday sense (2), not the religious sense (1).
She has a good karma.
She has good karma.
Karma is uncountable; never use 'a' or 'an' before it.

2. The idea that a person's past behaviour — good or bad — brings matching results

2.nounB1
Definition

The idea that a person's past behaviour — good or bad — brings matching results later in their life, as if the world naturally keeps a moral balance.

Example

Andrés laughed after tripping, calling it karma for mocking a friend's earlier fall.

karma as ironic same-day payback

After Lan returned a lost wallet, a stranger bought her coffee — she whispered 'good karma.'

good karma from a kind deed

Common collocations
  • instant karma
  • good karma
  • bad karma
  • karma comes back
  • karma for something
Synonyms
  • retribution

    More formal and severe; implies punishment rather than neutral balancing.

  • comeuppance

    Informal and strongly negative — only for bad outcomes, not good ones.

  • what goes around comes around

    A full proverb rather than a single noun; carries the same idea of moral balance.

Grammar Patterns

karma as an uncountable noun

often preceded by 'good' or 'bad'

Usage Note

Common in informal speech, social media, and pop culture. Unlike sense 1, this sense implies immediate or short-term consequences in the same lifetime — often with an ironic or humorous tone.

Common Mistakes

He has bad karma from a past life.
He has bad karma from cheating on the test.
The everyday sense (2) refers to consequences in the same lifetime, not across reincarnations.
Karma is a religious concept only.
Karma can also mean everyday payback.
Learners may not realise that in modern English, 'karma' is often used informally and non-religiously.

Word family

  • karmic
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

Of these four words, karma is the most neutral and widely used in everyday English — it can refer to either good or bad outcomes that follow from a person's actions. Retribution is more formal and always negative; it suggests punishment inflicted by an authority or by society. Comeuppance is informal and also strictly negative, with a slightly humorous tone — it describes a deserved downfall that feels satisfying to onlookers. Fate differs from all three because it implies a predetermined outcome that has nothing to do with the person's own behaviour. For example: 'He got his comeuppance when the boss caught him stealing' sounds like a deserved punishment, whereas 'It was fate that brought them together' carries no moral judgement at all.

karma ↗retributioncomeuppancefate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • good karma
  • bad karma
  • instant karma
  • karma for something
  • karma comes back to someone

Prepositions

Etymology

SanskritHindiEnglish

The word 'karma' comes from the Sanskrit noun कर्मन् (karman), meaning 'action, deed, or work.' It passed through Hindi and other Indian languages before entering English in the early 19th century, as British colonial scholars translated Hindu and Buddhist texts. The original Sanskrit root *kʷer- ('to do, make') is also the source of the English word 'create.' The modern informal sense — everyday payback for one's actions — developed in Western pop culture during the late 20th century.