What do we call an "achievement that does not matter anymore" with a word? The achievement has done so much damage that the end result doesn't matter anymore
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1Something described as hollow indicates that has more to do with appearance than merit. A pyrrhic victory is one in which the victor suffers severe losses. – Ronald Sole Mar 19 '17 at 23:55
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2Answered at Idiom request: Putting too much effort, but the return is so low that it was not worth the effort. (There is probably not a one-word answer.) – Edwin Ashworth Mar 19 '17 at 23:58
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This question is oddly phrased. An achievement that doesn't matter anymore need not have damaging consequences. I'd venture to say that expertise with a slide rule meets this definition. A self-defeating achievement still matters; it just doesn't matter the way it was intended. – deadrat Mar 20 '17 at 00:31
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1Possible duplicate of Idiom request: Putting too much effort, but the return is so low that it was not worth the effort – Skooba Mar 20 '17 at 11:45
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It's called a pyrrhic victory. The term is said to have come from a war which was won a such great cost that the king (Pyrrhus) recognised the emptiness of the victory.
pyrrhic adjective (of a victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor. - ODO
A Pyrrhic victory ... is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way. However, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit. - wikipedia
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It's time to start checking that we're not answering using duplicated material. This answer has been given several times in very closely related threads, as a quick search for 'Pyrrhic' shows. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 20 '17 at 00:04