A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. The phrase originates from a quote from Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose triumph against the Romans in the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC destroyed much of his forces. The term is used as an analogy in business, politics and sport to describe struggles that end up ruining victors.
About Pyrrhic victory in brief
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. The phrase originates from a quote from Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose triumph against the Romans in the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC destroyed much of his forces and forced the end of his campaign. The term is used as an analogy in business, politics and sport to describe struggles that end up ruining the victors.
In less militaristic terms, this phrase is applied to situations where a small victory may be achieved but the \”overarching goal\” is lost. A related expression is \”winning the battle but losing the war\”. This describes a poor strategy that wins a lesser objective, but overlooks and loses the larger objective.
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This page is based on the article Pyrrhic victory published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
