: a metrical foot consisting of two short or unaccented syllables
: achieved at excessive cost
a Pyrrhic victory
also
: costly to the point of negating or outweighing expected benefits
a great but Pyrrhic act of ingenuity
Examples of pyrrhic in a Sentence
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Judy Berman, Time, 27 June 2025
Indeed, China’s victory over its democratic opponents in this round may yet prove pyrrhic for at least two reasons.
—Scott Harold, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2014
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Noun
To pretend a Squid Game victory could be anything but pyrrhic would be to accept a fairy tale written by the worst people on the planet.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 June 2025
Indeed, China’s victory over its democratic opponents in this round may yet prove pyrrhic for at least two reasons.
—Scott Harold, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2014
Cite this Entry
“Pyrrhic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyrrhic. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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