C2idiomformalsuccess
a Pyrrhic victory
USUK
a win that costs so much that it is hardly worth winning
Formal; common in journalism about elections, lawsuits and business battles. Named after King Pyrrhus, so it has a capital P.
In context
The company won the court case, but it was a Pyrrhic victory: the legal costs nearly bankrupted it.
Winning an argument with your partner is a Pyrrhic victory if you then spend a week not speaking.
More idioms about success
- a blessing in disguisesomething that seems bad at first but later brings a good result
- a long shotan attempt or guess that has very little chance of success
- against all oddsalthough success seemed very unlikely
- back to square oneback at the start, because an earlier attempt has failed
- bear fruitto finally produce good results after a lot of effort or time