instant karma

noun

"instant-karma" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“instant karma” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A circumstance where something deserving but unexpected happens, especially, when a person's actions backfire and cause an immediate unforeseen and unintended effect that may be deemed just deserts...

Corpus desk

Index EN-instant-karma · instant karma · English

instant karma · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for instant karma
PropertyValue
Headwordinstant karma
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “instant karma” in English

instant karmaranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

instant karma is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A circumstance where something deserving but unexpected happens, especially, when a person's actions backfire and cause an immediate unforeseen and unintended effect that may be deemed just deserts...".

No misspelling variants are generated for instant karma in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From instant + karma. The correct English form is instant karma, spelled I-N-S-T-A-N-T- -K-A-R-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A circumstance where something deserving but unexpected happens, especially, when a person's actions backfire and cause an immediate unforeseen and unintended effect that may be deemed just deserts for those actions.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how instant karma appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Don't surround yourself with yourself Move on back two squares Send an instant karma to me Initial it with loving care.
  2. The eyes that met Paul's across a crowded London club 22 years ago when she was an unknown freelance photographer and he was, what? A god? "Instant karma" — this said romantically.

Etymology

From instant + karma.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "instant karma"?
"instant karma" is spelled I-N-S-T-A-N-T- -K-A-R-M-A.
What does "instant karma" mean?
As a noun, "instant karma" means: A circumstance where something deserving but unexpected happens, especially, when a person's actions backfire and cause an immediate unforeseen and unintended effect that may be deemed just deserts...
What is the origin of the word "instant karma"?
From instant + karma. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list