The phrase "Pyrrhic Victory" stands for

The correct answer is C) victory at a high cost. A Pyrrhic victory is a win that leaves the victor so weakened that it is nearly as damaging as a defeat. The phrase comes from Pyrrhus of Epirus, who beat the Romans at Asculum in 279 BC but lost a large part of his army and many senior commanders. He is said to have remarked that one more such victory would ruin him.

• A) easy victory: Wrong. The idiom is about the price paid by the winner, not how easily the win came.
• B) honest victory: Wrong. Honesty has nothing to do with the expression.
• D) victory at a low cost: This is the opposite of the idiom. A low-cost win is simply a good win.

The core concept is the gap between winning a contest and winning the war. For Mains, this fits discussions of costly military campaigns, or of policies that deliver short-term political gains at long-term institutional cost.

Trap: Candidates often read 'Pyrrhic' as a synonym for 'decisive' because the victor does win. Focus on what the winner loses.