quixotical

adjective

as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality a quixotical attempt to bring live theater to a generation hooked on video games

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quixotical
  1. romantic
  2. impractical
  3. quixotic
  4. idealistic
Adjective
  • The author, 42, wore a summery floral midi dress with delicate sleeves and a romantic sweetheart neckline.
    — Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
  • The braids appear to be tied off with thin, white rope and have a romantic, lived-in, casual quality—though not too casual to seem irrefutably stylish at a Paris couture show.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 6 July 2026
Definition of romantic
Adjective
  • Due to their smaller size, developers hope they can be manufactured more efficiently and deployed in places where large nuclear plants would be impractical.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 11 July 2026
  • As a result, face-to-face interactions at bank branches are increasingly impractical.
    — Eyal Lifshitz, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of impractical
Adjective
  • Graham Platner, the Marine Corps veteran and oysterman who mounted a quixotic bid for the US Senate in Maine, was used to controversy—headlines had been bad enough already, and his campaign aides spent much of their time dealing with lurid rumors.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 9 July 2026
  • During the Cold War, quixotic Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha built some 750,000 concrete pillboxes to fend off a phantom invasion that never came.
    — Max Grinstein, The Washington Examiner, 3 July 2026
Definition of quixotic
Adjective
  • Sly and the Family Stone’s more commercial ’60s work can be seen as far more utopian and idealistic than their darker ’70s albums.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 7 July 2026
  • Still, their ambitions are quite idealistic, even verging on evangelical.
    — Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 3 July 2026
Definition of idealistic
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.

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quixotic
quixotical
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Cite this Entry

“Quixotical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quixotical. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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