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pyrrhic victory

pyr·rhic vic·to·ry
P p

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [pir-ik vik-tuh-ree, vik-tree]
    • /ˈpɪr ɪk ˈvɪk tə ri, ˈvɪk tri/
    • /ˈpɪrɪk ˈvɪktəri/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [pir-ik vik-tuh-ree, vik-tree]
    • /ˈpɪr ɪk ˈvɪk tə ri, ˈvɪk tri/

Definitions of pyrrhic victory words

  • noun pyrrhic victory a victory or goal achieved at too great a cost. 1
  • noun pyrrhic victory success at great cost 1
  • countable noun pyrrhic victory If you describe a victory as a Pyrrhic victory, you mean that although someone has won or gained something, they have also lost something which was worth even more. 0
  • noun pyrrhic victory a victory in which the victor's losses are as great as those of the defeated 0
  • noun pyrrhic victory a too costly victory 0
See all 5 definitions of pyrrhic victory

Information block about the term

Origin of pyrrhic victory

First appearance:

before 1880
One of the 23% newest English words
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

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Pyrrhic victory

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Pyrrhic victory

pyrrhic victory popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 27% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.
According to our data about 69% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

pyrrhic victory usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

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