仇を返す

• 読み: あだをかえす
• ローマ字: ada wo kaesu
• 漢字の分解: 仇 (kyū/ada) — enemy, harm, grudge; 返 (hen/kae) — return, repay
• 発音: /a.da.o.ka.e.sɯ/

意味

To return evil for good; to repay a kindness with harm; to retaliate against a benefactor. A strongly negative set phrase.

A compound expression using 仇 (ada, harm/enemy) and 返す (kaesu, to return). The full form is often 恩を仇で返す — 'to repay a favour with enmity' — and is considered one of the most morally reprehensible acts in Japanese social ethics. The shorter form 仇を返す retains this sense of betrayal. Used when someone who has received help turns against their benefactor.

例文

1. 長年支援してくれた恩人に仇を返すような裏切りは、決して許されない。
2. 助けてくれた仲間に仇を返した彼は、組織から完全に排除された。
3. 恩を仇で返す人間には二度と関わらないと、彼女は固く決意した。

使い方ガイド

場面: ethics, literature, daily life, social commentary

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

仇 (ada) originally meant an enemy or a grudge in classical Japanese. 返す (kaesu) means to return or give back. The phrase captures the moral inversion of returning hostility where gratitude was owed.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: Adults

社会的背景: General