Pyrrhus
Americannoun
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319–272 bc , king of Epirus (306–272). He invaded Italy but was ultimately defeated by the Romans (275 bc )
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another name for Neoptolemus
Other Word Forms
- Pyrrhic adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Another such victory and we shall be utterly ruined,” the Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus supposedly muttered after his army lost thousands of soldiers while defeating the Romans at Asculum in 279 B.C.
From Washington Post
Pyrrhus is the novel’s most interesting character after Briseis, ensnared by the imperative to dominate and subdue as surely as she and the other women are trapped in servitude and submission.
From Washington Post
It was, Edward J. Watts shows in “Mortal Republic,” thanks to the unrivaled strength of Rome’s political institutions that Pyrrhus’ victories ultimately issued in his proverbial defeat.
From New York Times
The speech of Pyrrhus had moved him greatly, and he lamented that the actor's passion was greater than his own.
From Literature
King Pyrrhus needed a win, too, but that didn’t work out too well for him.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
