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
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.
Pyrrhus, according to Plutarch, anticipated what was to come as he returned to Epirus: “What a battlefield we are leaving to the Carthaginians and the Romans.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Pyrrhus temporarily seized the throne of Macedon and attempted to carve out an empire for himself in Sicily and southern Italy.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
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 ● Aug. 20, 2021
After losing a staggering number of men, Pyrrhus is alleged to have said that another such "victory" would ruin him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2015
The speech of Pyrrhus had moved him greatly, and he lamented that the actor's passion was greater than his own.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
