Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.
- adjective Capricious; impulsive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to or resembling Don Quixote, the hero of Cervantes's celebrated romance of that name; hence, extravagantly or absurdly romantic; striving for an unattainable or impracticable ideal; characterized by futile self-devotion; visionary.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; prone to pursue unrealizable goals; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded. See also
quixotism . - adjective Like the deeds of Don Quixote; ridiculously impractical; unachievable; extravagantly romantic; doomed to failure.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Possessing or acting with the desire to do
noble andromantic deeds, without thought of realism and practicality. - adjective
Impulsive . - adjective Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; absurdly
chivalric ; apt to be deluded.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word quixotic.
Examples
-
Seth has a sense of honor which I call quixotic, and one that might reasonably shame the impecunious fortune-hunters I've met since I have lived in England.
The Watchers of the Plains A Tale of the Western Prairies Ridgwell Cullum 1905
-
The rest of you can just scream impotently behind the wheel; I get to write impotently and show the younger people what the word "quixotic" means.
SFGate: Top News Stories Jon Carroll 2011
-
From Quixote we derived the word quixotic, meaning extravagantly chivalrous and romantically idealistic.
Impossible Dream 2007
-
"My Best Friend shows [Patrice] Leconte's fondness for personalities wrapped up in quixotic conflicts, but the premise is too incredulous even by his own standards," writes Eric Kohn.
-
One could argue that America's overwhelming nuclear deterrence, like Britain's navy in the 19th century, has been a source of global stability more than otherwise—and that Reagan's dream of missile defense which Mr. Taubman labels "quixotic" may turn out to be the real solution to preventing a rogue nuclear attack from one of the world's many despotic regimes.
Fearsome Peacekeepers Arthur Herman 2011
-
This absurd belief would not even deserve to be called quixotic if it had not inspired masterpieces of art and music and architecture as well as the most appalling atrocities and depredations.
Christopher Hitchens: Collision: Is Religion Absurd or Good for the World? 2009
-
Devoted IsThatLegal readers may recall my quixotic efforts to use the Freedom of Information Act to learn about the potential involvement of DOJ's and other branches 'lawyer's roles in approving of interrogation tactics that amount to torture.
IsThatLegal? 2004
-
So this exercise in tilting at windmills can't even be described as quixotic, since that would imply some expectation of success, however delusional.
Redskins Insider Podcast -- The Washington Post Eugene Robinson 2011
-
Supporters put together signs for Jones' campaign in 1994, an effort Jones describes as "quixotic."
News 2011
-
Supporters put together signs for Jones' campaign in 1994, an effort Jones describes as "quixotic."
News 2011
valse commented on the word quixotic
I feel like this word should be pronounced kee-ho-tik (it just occurred to me that standard IPA pronunciation would show up as a possible word entry). We don't say Don Kwik-sot-ay...but maybe I'm just being persnickety.
January 4, 2007
billifer commented on the word quixotic
I totally know where you're coming from, Valse. You're being neither persnickety nor pedantic. Unfortunately, English — especially when adapting foreign words and names — is one big miasma of bafflegab.
I still spell "fish" as ghoti1 and "potato" as ghoughphtheightteeau.
January 5, 2007
valse commented on the word quixotic
So true, billifer. As counterintuitive as it may sometimes seem, we should just chalk it up to idiosyncrasy(if that word wasn't previously used to describe words or language, it now is). And then the inconsistency's something to appreciate, I suppose.
January 5, 2007
geekwad commented on the word quixotic
I heard someone (who I thought aught to have known better) pronounce it as an English word recently. I'd never heard it that way before. It made my eyes cross.
January 7, 2007
seanahan commented on the word quixotic
I've never heard anyone pronounce it as anything other than "quicks-ot-ic".
January 8, 2007
tankexmortis commented on the word quixotic
I pronounce it "kee-ho-tik". I'm takin' it back!
January 10, 2007
seanahan commented on the word quixotic
There is a fundamental dichotomy here. The suffix "ic" is not Spanish at all. Therefore, adding "ic" to Quixote to create an adjective is not allowed. I'm not sure what the equivalent suffix would be in Spanish, but if you insist on being a stickler for pronunciation, then you should insist on using the Spanish suffix. To make an English adjective, it makes sense to change the pronunciation.
January 11, 2007
valse commented on the word quixotic
Possible counterexamples of that, seanahan, would be words like jungian (yoong-ee-uhn) or wagnerian (vahg-neer-ee-uhn). When it derives from someone's name, that pronunciation seems to stick, at least part of the time. But after reading the tidbit on wikipedia about the spelling and pronunciation of "Quixote", I see it's a little bit more nuanced anyhow (technically it's medieval Castilian, not Spanish). Bah! This is a good word, I'm going to leave it alone (stop picking at it, that is) for fear that people will stop using it. I see it written much more often than I hear it spoken, anyway.
January 12, 2007
joshleejosh commented on the word quixotic
Good point -- I see the word much more often than I hear it. In fact, I think I've only ever heard it spoken out loud in the context of debates over its pronunciation! Is there a synonym for "quixotic" that's more popular in conversation, or do people just not want to talk about tilting at windmills?
January 17, 2007
geekwad commented on the word quixotic
Matter of opinion, innit? I'd be more inclined to change the spelling.
I think the whole idea of borrowing foreign rules for modifying words along with foreign words is dumb. It's "octopusses", dammit!
January 24, 2007
alguien commented on the word quixotic
It is "octopuses," definitely, not "octopi." The word octopus comes from Greek, not Latin, so the plural suffix -i is inappropriate.
As for the pronunciation of "quixotic," Charles Harrington Elster, author of The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, sanctions only kwik-SAHT-ik. I will continue to say kwik-SAHT-ik in English and reserve the more Spanishy pronunciation for when I am speaking Spanish.
March 26, 2007
erinoftheyear commented on the word quixotic
This word reminds me of one of those guys who hangs out at the bar everynight with his polyester shiny shirt and his gel'd up hair. It's used up, been had, and not as cool as it sounds.
August 15, 2007
karmicunderpath commented on the word quixotic
I can never remember what this damn word means
August 21, 2007
muse25 commented on the word quixotic
-extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
-impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.
October 23, 2008
sionnach commented on the word quixotic
"I just want to get drunk as fast as I can" said Don, quixotically.
November 4, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word quixotic
Odd... I say that a lot too.
;)
November 4, 2008
bilby commented on the word quixotic
See quixotically.
November 4, 2008
whichbe commented on the word quixotic
I'm kind of surprised that this is the #2 most listed word here. What's so special about this word? It makes me think of an exotic quiz.
November 13, 2008
ezzackly commented on the word quixotic
I just recently saw this word the other day for the first time and I beamed with excitement when I realized it was related to Don Quixote.
May 9, 2009
deusexmachina commented on the word quixotic
I named my dog Quixote, and he IS quixotic.
May 16, 2009
seanahan commented on the word quixotic
Chasing one's tail seems like a quixotic activity.
May 17, 2009
100000209953179 commented on the word quixotic
http://touch.facebook.com/#/profile.php?id=100000209953179
March 21, 2011
100000209953179 commented on the word quixotic
What a negative word...wow..sounds good!..Except it's one of those words the vocabularyistic LOL use to insult positive minded people striving for the utmost..GOOD to strive high diligently!..So the 'low' isn't as low if there is a mistake!!! Doesn't Always work..but Usually!!!..It Does Work Out Well!- To work out hard and happy in life..or just get the job done and make it happy!..Keeping Health in Mind Of Course!
http://touch.facebook.com/#/story.php?id=100000209953179&v=wall&story_fbid=207474925932417
March 21, 2011