pyrrhic

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Latin pyrrhichius (“dibrach”), from πυρρίχη (purrhíkhē, “war dance”), from πυρρός (purrhós, “flame-colored, red”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).

"I think that last summer we won a Pyrrhic victory." — The Long Roll, Mary Johnston
You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet; Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? — McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, William Holmes McGuffey
You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet; Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? — The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886, Ontario. Department of Education

dibrach

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