Pyrrhic victory
noun
a victory or goal achieved at too great a cost.
Compare
Cadmean victory.
Origin of Pyrrhic victory
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
British Dictionary definitions for pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
noun
a victory in which the victor's losses are as great as those of the defeated
Also called: Cadmean victory
Word Origin for Pyrrhic victory
named after
Pyrrhus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279
bc but suffered heavy losses
Cultural definitions for pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
[ (peer-ik) ]
A victory that is accompanied by enormous losses and leaves the winners in as desperate shape as if they had lost. Pyrrhus was an ancient general who, after defeating the Romans, told those who wished to congratulate him, “One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.”
Idioms and Phrases with pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A victory that is offset by staggering losses, as in The campaign was so divisive that even though he won the election it was a Pyrrhic victory. This expression alludes to Kind Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in b.c. 279, but lost his best officers and many of his troops. Pyrrhus then said: “Another such victory and we are lost.” In English the term was first recorded (used figuratively) in 1879.