What phrase or yojijukugo can I use for Pyrrhic Victory?


Is there any word or phrase I can use for Pyrrhic Victory, or perhaps empty
victory, or both? The first being a case where one wins but suffers such huge
damage in some other way that it's victory in name only. The second being a
victory but a generally meaningless one.

"Win the battle, lose the war" might come close.

In lieu of any of the above, a pattern for X "in name only" might suffice.




You could use the borrowed term ピュロスの勝利 (ピュロス is Pyrrhus!) - this isn't all
that used (3k Google hits on the exact phrase), but it's clearly a concept.

If you wanted to use non-loan words, the definitions for ピュロスの勝利 are usually
given by 割に合わない勝利 or 割りに合わぬ勝利, meaning “a victory that isn’t worth it”. This
likewise isn't a commonly-used phrase in itself, but it expresses what you
want without requiring the audience to know the name Pyrrhus or the history
associated with it.

Moving towards perhaps something more widely used, and closer to your the case
of an "empty victory", I think むなしい勝利 works well. (146k Google hits on the
exact phrase).

