Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective quixotic contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of quixotic are chimerical, fanciful, fantastic, imaginary, and visionary. While all these words mean "unreal or unbelievable," quixotic implies a devotion to romantic or chivalrous ideals unrestrained by ordinary prudence and common sense.

a quixotic crusade

How does the word chimerical relate to other synonyms for quixotic?

Chimerical combines the implication of visionary and fantastic.

chimerical dreams of future progress

When can fanciful be used instead of quixotic?

The words fanciful and quixotic can be used in similar contexts, but fanciful suggests the free play of the imagination.

a teller of fanciful stories

When would fantastic be a good substitute for quixotic?

While the synonyms fantastic and quixotic are close in meaning, fantastic implies incredibility or strangeness beyond belief.

a fantastic world inhabited by monsters

When is imaginary a more appropriate choice than quixotic?

The meanings of imaginary and quixotic largely overlap; however, imaginary applies to something which is fictitious and purely the product of one's imagination.

an imaginary desert isle

When is it sensible to use visionary instead of quixotic?

While in some cases nearly identical to quixotic, visionary stresses impracticality or incapability of realization.

visionary schemes

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of quixotic Since then, Anna has embarked on a quixotic mission to pursue the objects. Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 24 July 2025 While nothing gets a marketer’s heart racing like the quixotic desire to overcome scarcity, the vanishing dollar demos should discourage this kind of self-defeating strategy. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 July 2025 František, the more optimistic and quixotic of the two, has spent the last 20 years attempting to build a flying perpetuum machine — daydreamy compensation, perhaps, for having lost an arm in a sawmill accident decades before. Guy Lodge, Variety, 11 July 2025 Trump also hinted that a deal with Harvard was imminent, but some Harvard faculty worried about the terms of a prospective deal appearing to look like capitulation, while others worried that the university’s battle over purist principles of academic freedom was quixotic and too costly. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 7 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for quixotic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quixotic
Adjective
  • This book is perfect for lovers of romantic vibes and the world of dance!
    Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 14 Aug. 2025
  • The song finds Lacy unfiltered about his romantic frustrations.
    Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In short, in some situations, meeting legal requirements and deploying a drone in advance is impractical and could actually result in a delay in law enforcement response.
    Steve Robson, Sun Sentinel, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Researchers note that due to terrain and cost challenges, large-scale machines are often impractical, prompting research into compact, robotic pruning solutions.
    Jill Barth, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In exchange, the work burnishes the firm’s reputation and serves as a draw for idealistic young associates.
    Molly Redden, ProPublica, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Young lawyers and career government lawyers are often idealistic, willing to sacrifice personal gain for the public good, but the prospect of working for this attorney general might seem the worst sort of dead-end job — one requiring blind obedience to unworthy goals.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Rather than bringing us together into one utopian public square and fostering a healthy exchange of ideas, these platforms too often create filter bubbles or echo chambers.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2025
  • In one scene, Branko, a ghost, walks passively across a border without being stopped – a utopian ideal in itself.
    Sonya Vseliubska, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Wish-casting a better result for a confrontation in a different place, Vindman suppresses how much and how often America antagonized Russia through its idealist actions, rather than realist inaction.
    Samuel Moyn, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
  • This, in turn, becomes logically reliant on the idealist paradigm of Consciousness as the fundamental lowest common denominator of reality.
    Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Quixotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quixotic. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.

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