as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality
in this age of giant chain stores, any attempt at operating an independent bookstore must be regarded as quixotic
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Now, he’s evolved into full-time daddy mode, setting off into a quixotic journey to the club in the big city.
—
Vita Dadoo, Rolling Stone, 15 May 2025
Editors’ Picks More U.S. political news: A damning new book about Joe Biden depicts an aging president surrounded by family and aides who enabled his quixotic resolve to run for a second term.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 14 May 2025
There will be protests and lawsuits, but several brands ― from the old and historic to new and quixotic ― need to go, for the ultimate good of the automaker’s shareholders, workers and dealers.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 20 May 2025
The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.
—A. Wess Mitchell, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quixotic
Vita Dadoo, Rolling Stone, 15 May 2025
Editors’ Picks More U.S. political news: A damning new book about Joe Biden depicts an aging president surrounded by family and aides who enabled his quixotic resolve to run for a second term.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 14 May 2025
There will be protests and lawsuits, but several brands ― from the old and historic to new and quixotic ― need to go, for the ultimate good of the automaker’s shareholders, workers and dealers.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 20 May 2025
The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.
—A. Wess Mitchell, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quixotic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quixotic
Adjective
-
Research published in Journal of Personality in 2016 shows that, in romantic relationships, conditional approval (even when masked as praise) undermines relationship quality by threatening your sense of autonomy.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
15 June 2025
-
His romantic relationship with Capt. Batel (Melanie Scrofano) is a particularly great way to further explore dimensions of both characters.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
Adding more throughput is unwieldy and impractical.—
Steve Banker,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
-
Maison Irem Pearl Bow Shoe Charms While swapping standard nylon laces for pearl strands might be an impractical venture, clipping on two little pearl bows at your sneakers’ centers is an effortless maneuver that will pay dividends in sheer beauty.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
He’s joined by elder statesman Randall (Steve Carell), idealistic AI expert Jeff (Ramy Youssef) and the richest of them all: Ven (Cory Michael Smith), a clear Elon Musk analogue who rules over his social media empire with a cocky bravado.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
2 June 2025
-
Among the interviewees is cultural commentator Naomi Klein, who explains how WikiLeaks grew out of an early, more idealistic incarnation of the internet, prior to the rise of social media, in which its primary purpose was to make information available to all, for free.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
All of this could lead to some wonderful utopian possibilities.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
14 June 2025
-
Some of the Family were virtuoso singers, others just filling in for a line or two at a time, but there was always that utopian tribal spirit.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
10 June 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Labour leader Starmer, though, has taken a realist rather than an idealist approach to the president, putting Britain's foreign policy interests above the strong opposition to Trump in the rank and file of his own party.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quixotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quixotic. Accessed 25 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share