PYRRHIC

[pyr.rhic] n [L pyrrhichius, fr. Gk (pous) pyrrhichios, fr. pyrrhiche, a kind of dance] (1626): a metrical foot consisting of two short or unaccented syllables Pyr.rhic adj [Pyrrhus, king of Epirus who sustained heavy losses in defeating the Romans] (1885): achieved at excessive cost "a ~ victory"; also: costly to the point of negating or outweighing expected benefits "a great but ~ act of ingenuity"