pyrrhic

1. not comparablehuman sciencesOf or characterized by pyrrhics (metrical feet with two short syllables).
2. not comparableAncient GreeceRelating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome.
3. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of Pyrrhic (“achieved at too great a cost”).

   As victories go, it look^([sic]) distinctly pyrrhic – shades of Nixon and North Vietnam in 1972.

   2026 April 8, Robert Tait, “Trump may be using Nixon’s ‘madman theory’ – and similar infamy may await”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Huwawa is slain; the victors triumph, but the victory is to be a pyrrhic one for Gilgamesh, for the gods have met in counsel and decreed that Enkidu should die.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 199

   In the ministry, it is important to avoid pyrrhic victories. What really is a pyrrhic victory? A pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes with such devastating cost that ultimately nullifies the victory that has been achieved.

   2015, Dag Heward-Mills, A Good General, Dag Heward-Mills, →ISBN

plural pyrrhics

1. An Ancient Greek war dance.
2. human sciencesA metric foot with two short or unaccented syllables.

comparative more Pyrrhic · superlative most Pyrrhic · alternative pyrrhic

1. not comparableAncient GreeceOf or relating to Pyrrhus (319/318–272 BCE), Greek general and statesman.

   The Pyrrhic army lost the Pyrrhic war.

2. broadlyAchieved at too great a cost or detriment to have been worthwhile (as a victory, accomplishment, etc).

   Although this syndrome is thought to resemble patterns of Pyrrhic revenge […]

   1993, Steven Berglas, Roy F. Baumeister, Your Own Worst Enemy: Understanding the Paradox, page 166

   1 more example

   I feared a Pyrrhic victory: I had been vindicated intellectually, but I was afraid of being too right and seeing the system crumble under my feet.

   2010, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan, page 19