Meaning & use
pyrrhic
Last updated
Describing a victory won at such a great cost that it is not worth the effort or sacrifice required to achieve it.
See it in a sentence
Winning the lawsuit felt like a pyrrhic victory once they saw the legal fees.
The general's pyrrhic triumph left his army too depleted to continue the campaign.
A note on using this word
Named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose costly victories against Rome gave rise to the phrase 'Pyrrhic victory'; almost always used in that exact phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pyrrhic”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.