Pyrrhic victory

noun

1. a victory or goal achieved at too great a cost.

Pyrrhic victory

noun

1. Also called: Cadmean victory. a victory in which the victor's losses are as great as those of the defeated

Pyrrhic victory

1. A victory that is accompanied by enormous losses and leaves the winners in as desperate shape as if they had lost. Pyrrhus was an ancient general who, after defeating the Romans, told those who wished to congratulate him, “One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pyrrhic victory¹

1880–85; < Greek Pyrrikós; after a remark attributed by Plutarch to Pyrrhus, who declared, after a costly victory over the Romans, that another similar victory would ruin him

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pyrrhic victory¹

named after _Pyrrhus , who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279 _bc but suffered heavy losses

Idioms and Phrases

A victory that is offset by staggering losses, as in The campaign was so divisive that even though he won the election it was a Pyrrhic victory. This expression alludes to Kind Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in b.c. 279, but lost his best officers and many of his troops. Pyrrhus then said: “Another such victory and we are lost.” In English the term was first recorded (used figuratively) in 1879.