Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A metrical foot having two short or unaccented syllables.
- adjective Of or characterized by pyrrhics.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to Pyrrhus, especially to Pyrrhus, King of Epirus (see phrase below).
- noun An ancient Grecian warlike dance, in quick and light measure, accompanied by the flute.
- Of or pertaining to the Greek martial dance called a pyrrhic.
- In prosody, consisting of two short times or syllables: as, a pyrrhic foot; composed of or pertaining to feet so constituted: as, pyrrhic verse; pyrrhic rhythm.
- noun In ancient prosody, a foot consisting of two short times or syllables. ;
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to an ancient Greek martial dance.
- adjective (Pros.) Of or pertaining to a pyrrhic, or to pyrrhics; containing pyrrhic.
- adjective any act supposedly benefitting the actor, for which the costs outweight the benefits.
- noun An ancient Greek martial dance, to the accompaniment of the flute, its time being very quick.
- noun (Pros.) A foot consisting of two short syllables.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective prosody Of or characterized by pyrrhics.
- adjective Relating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome.
- noun An Ancient
Greek war dance . - noun prosody A
metric foot with two short orunaccented syllables .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables
- noun a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables
- adjective of or relating to a war dance of ancient Greece
- adjective of or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans)
- noun an ancient Greek dance imitating the motions of warfare
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If not getting the World Cup is a victory, then surely it's a kind of pyrrhic victory.
The Guardian World News Simon Jenkins 2010
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Looked at through other lenses, however, the victory was pyrrhic, meaning that the legitimacy losses, collateral and direct, were substantial enough to lead one to wonder whether the victory was cost effective.
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The American veto officially blocked the resolution, in a classic example of a pyrrhic victory.
William Bradley: If Obama Loses, It Won't Be Because "It's the Economy, Stupid" William Bradley 2011
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Given an opportunity to win only a small victory (or, in your case, a pyrrhic victory), will you take a significant risk?
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The American veto officially blocked the resolution, in a classic example of a pyrrhic victory.
William Bradley: If Obama Loses, It Won't Be Because "It's the Economy, Stupid" William Bradley 2011
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Rather than settling for a costly pyrrhic victory on these issues, the Commission should heed the call of the National Organizations - and countless others - to defer any necessary regulatory fixes to Congress and instead focus on addressing the issues of most immediate importance.
David Honig: A Decisive Moment for Broadband Internet Access David Honig 2010
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Analysts at Moody's Investors Service warned in a November report that limiting bonuses would be a "pyrrhic victory for taxpayers."
Fannie Counsel Is Internal CEO Candidate Nick Timiraos 2012
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If the U.S. wins the battle of competitive devaluation, it may prove to be a pyrrhic victory, as our gains come at the expense of others — including those to whom we hope to export.
Why Easier Money Won't Work Joseph Stiglitz 2010
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If that happens, even a Walker victory would be a pyrrhic one.
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He is still the man to beat, but his capture of the nomination, if it eventually occurs, has an increasingly pyrrhic feel, since the longer the contests go on, the clearer it becomes that most Republicans do not really support him.
oroboros commented on the word pyrrhic
Where the 'means' defeats the 'ends' rather than the 'ends' justifying the 'means'...
January 3, 2007
alasdair17 commented on the word pyrrhic
pyrrhic - you quote a number of examples of the use of pyrrhic in the sense most commonly seen - pyrrhic victory i.e. a victory at such cost it was probably not worth winning and yet you do not give that sense as one of the definitions of the word????
June 5, 2012
rolig commented on the word pyrrhic
The sense you mention, alasdair17, pertains to the noun phrase Pyrrhic victory, not to the word pyrrhic per se, which is why I do not give it here. I do, however, provide it under "Pyrrhic victory" (note the capital "P", which I prefer since in this sense the word derives from the proper noun Pyrrhus). By the way, there really was no need to use four question marks in a row. I hope you have calmed down a little.
June 5, 2012
erinmckean commented on the word pyrrhic
Thanks rolig! There's also a Wiktionary definition at Pyrrhic.
June 6, 2012