MEANING
A victory gained at such a heavy cost that winning provides little or no real benefit.
Use it for
describing success that leaves the winner badly damaged; evaluating whether a win was worth its cost; contrasting a formal victory with its practical consequences; showing a triumph that undermines future prospectsDistinguishes winning at an excessive cost from ordinary success with some disadvantages. Writing functions: Costly success.
Words that belong together
- a costly Pyrrhic victory
- prove a Pyrrhic victory
- win a Pyrrhic victory
On the page
The lawsuit ended in a Pyrrhic victory: the award barely covered the costs and the partnership was ruined.
Securing the vote by alienating every potential ally might prove a Pyrrhic victory.
Word forms
- Base
- Pyrrhic victory
Usage notes
Count noun phrase: a Pyrrhic victory/Pyrrhic victories. Capital P is standard; the article is not part of the canonical headword. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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