pyrrhic
5 synonyms for pyrrhic, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Adjective — Describing a victory won at such a heavy cost that it is barely worth having, and may leave the winner weaker than before.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. adjective
Describing a victory won at such a heavy cost that it is barely worth having, and may leave the winner weaker than before.
“Winning the case was a pyrrhic victory: the legal fees swallowed the damages.”
2. noun technical
In classical verse, a metrical foot consisting of two short or unstressed syllables.
“The line ends on a pyrrhic followed by a spondee.”
How to use pyrrhic
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Formal and literary; almost always in the phrase "pyrrhic victory".
Etymology
The victory sense is from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, whose armies beat the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum in the 3rd century BC at losses so severe the wins ruined him. The metrical foot is a separate word, from Greek pyrrhiche, an ancient war dance, and has no connection to Pyrrhus.
Full origin of pyrrhic →