BSTRACTNb alloys with high strength and relatively low density are sought for high-temperature applications. However

due to strain softening

conventional Nb alloys often exhibit insufficient high-temperature strengths. Here we report a strategy to design a novel lightweight and thermally-stable Nb alloy by combining the notion of eutectics and refractory carbide. The resulting Nb

2

MoWC

0.96

eutectic alloy exhibits a high-temperature specific compressive strength of 77.2 MPa/·cm

3

·g

1

at 1673 K with a retained engineering plasticity of 37.5%

both are notably higher than the existing Nb and Nb-containing alloys. This work demonstrates that both the strength and plasticity of Nb alloys can be further optimized with refractory carbide and eutectics.