quixotic

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.
  2. adjective Capricious; impulsive: "At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious” (Louis Auchincloss).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

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Examples

  • She is the only person who strengthens Antony in his quixotic-foolish resolve to fight at sea. —  The Man Shakespeare
  • In justice to myself, however, I may remark that my plans for reform have never assumed quixotic, and therefore, impracticable proportions. —  A Mind That Found Itself
  • Mr. Seward's efforts, seconded by other distinguished men, to get a pension for her, were sneered at in Congress as absurd and quixotic, and the effort failed. —  Harriet The Moses of Her People
  • Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. —  Pride and Prejudice
  • The mill crouched black and ugly on the smooth curve of the ridge, defiant as a quixotic monster. —  When the Lion Feeds
 

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Quixotic has been looked up 1234 times, favorited 29 times, listed 340 times, and commented on 21 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From English Quixote, a visionary, after Don Quixote, hero of a romance by Miguel de Cervantes.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Quixote (see def.) + -ic.
 

Pronunciations
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/kwɪkˈsɑtɪk/
by American Heritage
by Patrick Kennedy
by David Bohan
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