QUIXOTIC • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Quixotic

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/kwɪksˈɑtɪk/ Listen

adjective

Quixotic adj.

Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; prone to pursue unrealizable goals; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded. See also quixotism. "Feats of quixotic gallantry."

Like the deeds of Don Quixote; ridiculously impractical; unachievable; extravagantly romantic; doomed to failure; as, a quixotic quest. "The word "quixotic"... has entered the common language, with the meaning "hopelessly naive and idealistic," "ridiculously impractical," "doomed to fail." That this epithet can be used now in an exclusively pejorative sense not only shows that we have ceased to read Cervantes and to understand his character, but more fundamentally it reveals that our culture has drifted away from its spiritual roots."

See images of 'Quixotic'

Etymology of 'Quixotic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Quixotic" Quotes from Famous Books

... "Your Quixotic madness has made you more than once speak to me of Quixotism as the new religion. And I tell you that this new religion you propose to me, if it hatched, would have two singular merits. One that its founder, ...

— Rosinante to the Road Again • John Dos Passos

... The quixotic idea of inculcating manners by means of the press infected others besides the gangsman. In a Navy whose officers not only plumed themselves on representing the ne plus ultra of etiquette, but demanded that all who approached ...

— The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore • John R. Hutchinson

... City of London (Lord John Russell) tells us it is quite a mistake to suppose that he ever intended to go to war for Poland. In fact, he stated—what will be very disheartening to hon. Gentlemen below me—that he never supposed we were going to war for such a Quixotic object; that the case of Poland is one that is hopeless, and therefore it would be madness in England and France—not indiscretion—not a doubtful undertaking—but positive madness in England and France to take any part in promoting resistance ...

— Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1 • John Bright

... once, and it had kept her awake the whole night. After this, one could not be so disloyal as to solve it at once. For two hours or so, therefore, I merely toyed with it. Whenever I seemed to be getting warm I hurriedly thought of something else. This quixotic loyalty has been the undoing of me; my chances of a solution have slipped by, and I am beginning to fear that they will never return. While this is the case, the only word I can write about ...

— If I May • A. A. Milne

... yourself," Mr. Bomford demanded, impressively, "whether you have a right to treat your other self in this fashion? Your other self will assuredly resent it, if you retain your memory. Your other self would hate your present self for its short-sighted, quixotic folly. I tell you frankly that you have not the right to treat your coming self in this way. Consider! Wealth does not inevitably vulgarize. On the contrary, it takes you away from the necessity of associating with people calculated to depress and cramp your life. There are many ...

— The Double Life Of Mr. Alfred Burton • E. Phillips Oppenheim

More quotes...