pyrrhic
/ˈpɪ.ɹɪk/adjective, noun
pyrrhic is spelled P-Y-R-R-H-I-C. The wrong spelling people search most is pyhrric: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 49 of all searches for the word. Pyrrhic is an adjective meaning “Of or characterized by pyrrhics (metrical feet with two short syllables)”.
How many letters and syllables are in pyrrhic?
| Letters | 7: P-Y-R-R-H-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, pyhrric, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell pyrrhic?
Pyrrhic is spelled P-Y-R-R-H-I-C. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 49 of the searches for pyrrhic in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is pyrrhic?
Pyrrhic appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pyrrhic?
- UK /ˈpɪ.ɹɪk/
Pyrrhic has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pyrrhic.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-Pyrrhic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pyrrhic
- pyrrhics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pyrrhic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or characterized by pyrrhics (metrical feet with two short syllables).
- 2
Relating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome.
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of Pyrrhic (“achieved at too great a cost”).
noun
- 1
An Ancient Greek war dance.
- 2
A metric foot with two short or unaccented syllables.
adjective
- 1
Of or relating to Pyrrhus (319/318–272 BCE), Greek general and statesman.
The Pyrrhic army lost the Pyrrhic war.
- 2
Achieved at too great a cost or detriment to have been worthwhile (as a victory, accomplishment, etc).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pyrrhic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pyrrhique |
| German | pyrrhisch , Pyrrhus- (as in Pyrrhussieg) |
| Portuguese | pírrico |
| Spanish | pírrico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pyrrhic come from?
From Latin pyrrhichius (“dibrach”), from πυρρίχη (purrhíkhē, “war dance”), from πυρρός (purrhós, “flame-colored, red”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).