quixotic


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Related to quixotic: Don Quixote

quix·ot·ic

 (kwĭk-sŏt′ĭk) also quix·ot·i·cal (-ĭ-kəl)
adj.
1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.
2. Capricious; impulsive: "At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious" (Louis Auchincloss).
[From English Quixote, a visionary, after Don Quixote, , hero of a romance by Miguel de Cervantes.]
quix·ot′i·cal·ly adv.
quix′o·tism (kwĭk′sə-tĭz′əm) n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

quixotic

(kwɪkˈsɒtɪk) or

quixotical

adj
preoccupied with an unrealistically optimistic or chivalrous approach to life; impractically idealistic
[C18: after Don Quixote]
quixˈotically adv
quixotism n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

quix•ot•ic

(kwɪkˈsɒt ɪk)

also quix•ot′i•cal,



adj.
1. (sometimes cap.) resembling or befitting Don Quixote.
2. extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary; impractical.
[1805–15]
quix•ot′i•cal•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.quixotic - not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic; "as quixotic as a restoration of medieval knighthood"; "a romantic disregard for money"; "a wild-eyed dream of a world state"
wild-eyed, romantic
impractical - not practical; not workable or not given to practical matters; "refloating the ship proved impractical because of the expense"; "he is intelligent but too impractical for commercial work"; "an impractical solution"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

quixotic

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

quixotic

adjective
Not compatible with reality:
idealistic, romantic, starry-eyed, unrealistic, utopian, visionary.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
don quichottismedonquichottisme

quixotic

[kwɪkˈsɒtɪk] ADJ → quijotesco
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

quixotic

[kwɪkˈsɒtɪk] adj → chimérique
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

quixotic

adj behaviour, gesture etc → edelmütig, ritterlich; ideals → schwärmerisch, idealistisch; a foolish quixotic act → eine Donquichotterie; don’t you find that a little quixotic? → finden Sie das nicht etwas versponnen?
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

quixotic

[kwɪkˈsɒtɪk] adj (frm) → donchisciottesco/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
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An author who had much to do with preparing me for the quixotic folly in point was that Thomas Babington Macaulay, who taught simplicity of diction in phrases of as "learned length and thundering sound," as any he would have had me shun, and who deplored the Latinistic English of Johnson in terms emulous of the great doctor's orotundity and ronderosity.
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"Well, my quixotic one, you shall tell me anything--say, as soon as we are settled in our lodging; not now.
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"And you and your sister were head and ears deep in some Quixotic scheme.
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To me your uncle seems merely quixotic and egregiously selfish.
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Brownlow, smiling; 'but no doubt they will bring that about for themselves in the fulness of time, and if we step in to forestall them, it seems to me that we shall be performing a very Quixotic act, in direct opposition to our own interest--or at least to Oliver's, which is the same thing.'
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The pilgrims read "Nomadic Life" and keep themselves in a constant state of Quixotic heroism.
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Therefore all public ends look vague and quixotic beside private ones.
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She is ready prey to any man who knows how to play adroitly either on her affectionate ardor or her Quixotic enthusiasm; and a man stands by with that very intention in his mind--a man with no other principle than transient caprice, and who has a personal animosity towards me-- I am sure of it--an animosity which is fed by the consciousness of his ingratitude, and which he has constantly vented in ridicule of which I am as well assured as if I had heard it.
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Over against this conduct, so far as it goes, may be set Swift's quixotic but extensive and constant personal benevolence and generosity to the poor.
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This family training, too, combined with their turn for combativeness, makes them eminently quixotic. They can't let anything alone which they think going wrong.
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But he was not quixotic. He lost all desire to await Mr Verloc's return.
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'I only think you're too quixotic. You're sorry for me and you are letting a kind impulse carry you away, as you did last night at the casino.
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