Pyrrhic victory

WOTD – 5 July 2007    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Eponymous of the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus, who suffered heavy losses while defeating the Romans.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌpɪɹ.ɪk ˈvɪk.t(ə)ɹ.i/, X-SAMPA: /%pIr\.Ik "vIk.t(@)r\.I/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

Pyrrhic victory (plural Pyrrhic victories)

1. A very costly victory, wherein the considerable losses outweigh the gain, so as to render the struggle not worth the cost.
   • "Tough pensions regulation designed to protect employees in final-salary occupational schemes will prove a pyrrhic victory for unions and the government, a report warned yesterday." —The Guardian, October 6, 2005
   • "We now know that it [the Six-Day War] was a Pyrrhic victory." —Amos Elon: Israelis & Palestinians: What Went Wrong?, November 21, 2002

Translations

a costly victory

• Armenian: պյուռոսյան հաղթանակ (hy) (pyuṙosyan haġt’anak) 
• Azeri: Pirr qələbəsi (az)
• Bulgarian: Пирова победа (bg) (Pírova pobéda) f 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皮洛士式勝利 (cmn), 皮洛士式胜利 (cmn) (Píluòshì shì shènglì)

• Czech: Pyrrhovo vítězství (cs) n
• Danish: pyrrhussejr (da) c
• Dutch: pyrrhusoverwinning (nl)
• Finnish: Pyrrhoksen voitto (fi)
• French: victoire à la Pyrrhus (fr) f
• German: Pyrrhussieg (de) m

• Hungarian: pürroszi győzelem (hu)
• Japanese: ピュロスの勝利 (ja) (Pyurosu no shōri)
• Latin: victoria Pyrrhica (la) f
• Macedonian: Пирова победа (mk) (Pírova póbeda) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pyrrhosseier (nb) m

  Nynorsk: pyrrhossiger (nn) m

• Polish: pyrrusowe zwycięstwo (pl) n
• Russian: Пиррова победа (ru) (Pírrova pobéda) f 
• Spanish: victoria pírrica (es) f
• Swedish: Pyrrhusseger (sv)

Related terms

• Pyrrhic