quixotic

quix·ot·ic

adjective \kwik-ˈsä-tik\

Definition of QUIXOTIC

1

: foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action

2

: capricious, unpredictable

— quix·ot·i·cal \-ti-kəl\ adjective

— quix·ot·i·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of QUIXOTIC

1. They had quixotic dreams about the future.
2. <in this age of giant chain stores, any attempt at operating an independent bookstore must be regarded as quixotic>
3. In … an earnest book-length essay of neo-Victorian public-mindedness that deplores the “nasty, knowing abuse” that the author would have us fear contaminates too much American humor lately, David Denby, a movie critic for The New Yorker, sets for himself what has to be one of the most quixotic projects that a moral reformer can undertake. —Walter Kirn, New York Times Book Review, 22 Feb. 2009
4. The history of biblical oil prospecting is filled with quixotic quests and colorful characters, starting with Welsie Hancock, a wealthy California man who in the 1960s dreamed that Jesus told him he would find black gold in the Holy Land. He sunk his entire fortune into two dry holes. —Mariah Blake, Mother Jones, January and February 2008
5. Mumey had announced his candidacy as an independent in the partisan election, which meant that he needed 2,300 signatures of registered voters in order to get on the ballot in the fall. It seemed a quixotic adventure, given the small size of Celebration and Mumey's lack of name recognition outside the town. —Douglas Frantz et al., Celebration, USA, 1999

Origin of QUIXOTIC

Don Quixote

First Known Use: 1718

Related to QUIXOTIC

Synonyms

idealist, idealistic, quixotical, romantic, starry, starry-eyed, utopian, visionary

Antonyms

clear-eyed, clear-sighted

Related Words

impractical, unrealistic; crusading, messianic, zealous; dewy-eyed, moonstruck, moony, sentimental, tender-minded; hopeful, optimistic, Pollyannaish (also Pollyannish), rosy, upbeat; doctrinaire, ideological (also ideologic)

Near Antonyms

hardheaded, hard-nosed, tough-minded, unsentimental; practical, pragmatic (also pragmatical), realistic

See Synonym Discussion at imaginary

Rhymes with QUIXOTIC

aquatic, biotic, chaotic, cirrhotic, demotic, despotic, ergotic, erotic, exotic, hypnotic, kyphotic, leprotic, lordotic, meiotic, mitotic, narcotic, necrotic, neurotic, Nilotic, osmotic, psychotic, robotic, sclerotic, thrombotic, zygotic