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.
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
In 272 BCE, Pyrrhus died after being struck by a roof tile thrown at him by an elderly woman during a street battle in the city of Argos.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
King Pyrrhus needed a win, too, but that didn’t work out too well for him.
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2017
The phrase, about a victory won at too great a cost, refers to King Pyrrhus of Epirus' subduing of Roman forces in the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2015
Some say that Diomedes went with him and others Neoptolemus, also called Pyrrhus, the young son of Achilles.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
