pyrrhic
Won but devastating
Pyrrhic describes a victory won at such devastating cost that it amounts to defeat.
The term comes from King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose military victories against Rome in 280–279 BCE left his army too depleted to continue fighting.
It was a pyrrhic victory—they won the lawsuit but spent their life savings on legal fees.
The word applies to any success that leaves the winner worse off than before.
Empty within
- costlyHigh in price
- bittersweetWistful yet warm
- unsustainableCannot be maintained indefinitely
- devastatingCausing severe damage
ruinous · self-defeating · tactical · strategic · casualties · attrition · exhaustion · depleted
Without rhythmic emphasis
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- meterDevice that measures usage
- metricalHaving regular rhythm
- verseMetered poetic passage
prosody · syllable · iamb · trochee · spondee · dactyl · anapest · pentameter
Ritualistic pre-combat performance
- Greek danceTraditional Hellenic folk movement
- martialRelating to warfare
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- ceremonialRelating to formal rites
athletic · ancient Greek · military training · shield · spear · rhythmic · traditional · Dionysian
Rome before its emperors
- phalanxMassed infantry formation
- elephantsTusked, trunk-bearing mammals
- hoplitesAncient Greek heavy infantry
- legionariesRoman military infantrymen
Hellenistic · Sicily · Macedonian · war elephants · Greek colonies · classical antiquity
hollow
Empty within
- costlyHigh in price
- bittersweetWistful yet warm
- unsustainableCannot be maintained indefinitely
devastating · ruinous · self-defeating · tactical · strategic · casualties · attrition · exhaustion · depleted · weakened
unstressed
Without rhythmic emphasis
verse · prosody · syllable · iamb · trochee · spondee · dactyl · anapest · pentameter · tetrameter
war dance
Ritualistic pre-combat performance
- Greek danceTraditional Hellenic folk movement
- martialRelating to warfare
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
ceremonial · athletic · ancient Greek · military training · shield · spear · rhythmic · traditional · Dionysian · festival
Roman Republic
Rome before its emperors
- phalanxMassed infantry formation
- elephantsTusked, trunk-bearing mammals
- hoplitesAncient Greek heavy infantry
legionaries · Hellenistic · Sicily · Macedonian · war elephants · Greek colonies · classical antiquity
- Greek Dances
- meteriamb, trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapest
- prosodyscansion, meter, foot, stress pattern, metrics
- metersthermometer, speedometer, odometer, barometer, pedometer
- verse formshaiku, couplet, limerick, quatrain, sonnet
- syllablessyllable, syllabification, syllabication, syllable stress, stressed syllable
pyrrhicdecisive
Quick to conclude
unqualified · resounding · clean · clear-cut · overwhelming
pyrrhicstrategic
Deliberately planned for advantage
tactical · sustainable · advantageous · beneficial · productive
pyrrhicworthwhile
Meriting effort or attention
meaningful · triumphant · glorious · valuable · rewarding
- Pyrrhic victorySuccess with crippling cost
- Pyrrhic victoriesGains outweighed by losses