Pyrrhic victory

English

WOTD – 5 July 2007

Chancellorsville was arguably a Pyrrhic victory for the Confederates, since they lost a valuable general: Stonewall Jackson.

In a full-fledged nuclear war, the best either side would get is a Pyrrhic victory.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɪɹ.ɪk ˈvɪk.t(ə)ɹ.i/

• Audio (US):

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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.

   Synonym: (proscribed) hollow victory

   • 2005 October 6, The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2002 November 21, Amos Elon, “Israelis & Palestinians: What Went Wrong?”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2]:

     We now know that it [the Six-Day War] was a Pyrrhic victory.

Translations

a costly victory

• Armenian: պյուռոսյան հաղթանակ (hy) (pyuṙosyan haġtʻanak)
• Azerbaijani: Pirr qələbəsi
• Bulgarian: Пи́рова побе́да f (Pírova pobéda)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 慘むご勝がち／惨むご胜 (caam² sing³)

  Mandarin: 皮かわ洛らく士し式しき勝利しょうり／皮かわ洛らく士し式しき胜利 (Píluòshì shì shènglì), 慘むご勝がち／惨むご胜 (zh) (cǎnshèng)

• Czech: Pyrrhovo vítězství (cs) n
• Danish: pyrrhussejr (da) c
• Dutch: pyrrusoverwinning (nl) f
• Esperanto: Pirha venko
• Finnish: Pyrrhoksen voitto
• French: victoire à la Pyrrhus (fr) f
• German: Pyrrhussieg (de) m
• Greek: Πύρρειος νίκη f (Pýrreios níki)
• Hungarian: pirruszi győzelem
• Indonesian: kemenangan piris, kemenangan Piris
• Italian: vittoria di Pirro f
• Japanese: ピュロスの勝利しょうり (Pyurosu no shōri)
• Latin: victoria Pyrrhica f
• Macedonian: Пирова победа f (Pirova pobeda)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pyrrhosseier (no) m

  Nynorsk: pyrrhossiger m

• Polish: pyrrusowe zwycięstwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: vitória de Pirro f, vitória pírrica f, vitória pirrónica f (rare, Portugal), vitória pirrônica f (rare, Brazil)
• Romanian: victorie à la Pirus f
• Russian: Пи́ррова побе́да (ru) f (Pírrova pobéda)
• Slovak: Pyrrhovo víťazstvo n
• Spanish: victoria pírrica (es) f
• Swedish: pyrrhusseger (sv) c

See also

• Cadmean victory
• monkey's paw