DictionaryAI

quixotic

Saykwik-SOT-ik/kwɪkˈsɑtɪk/UK/kwɪkˈsɒtɪk/

Noun pluralquixotics

2 meanings of quixotic

Practice

  1. 1
    too idealisticadjective
    Idealistic to a fault, like Cervantes's Don Quixote, and driven by a wish to do noble, romantic deeds with no thought for what is realistic or practical.

    Opening an independent bookstore next to a giant mall struck her friends as quixotic, but she did it anyway.

    The senator's quixotic campaign against the entire tax code won admirers but no votes.

    UsageTypical nouns: a quixotic quest, campaign, attempt or bid.

    Similaridealistic, impractical, unrealistic, romantic, visionary

    Oppositepragmatic, practical, realistic

    Note

    A name turned into an adjective: Don Quixote, Cervantes's chivalric hero, gives English a word for nobility mixed with folly, and it is written with a small q. Calling a plan quixotic usually grants that the aim is admirable while doubting it can work. It sits one step past idealistic, as when Stephen Burgen called a new Barcelona library of printed books "idealistic, almost quixotic."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The adjective derives from Don Quixote, a character created by Miguel de Cervantes. en.wiktionary.org
    • Don Quixote is a chivalric hero associated with noble but impractical deeds. en.wiktionary.org
    • Burgen's Barcelona library quotation is accurate. theguardian.com
  2. 2
    nounrarecountable
    A person who pursues noble ideals with no regard for what is practical, or a sentiment of that kind.
    The cultural quixotics attribute the change to inscrutable "cultural factors," which is tantamount to abandoning altogether the search for explanation.
    1975, Michael B. Schiffer, John H. House

    Similaridealist, dreamer, visionary, romantic

    Oppositerealist, pragmatist

    Note

    A rare noun for a person, or a way of thinking, that chases an ideal at the expense of sense. Michael B. Schiffer and John H. House's The Cache River Archeological Project (1975) dismisses the "cultural quixotics" who fall back on vague cultural factors instead of explanation. Because the adjective does nearly all the work in ordinary prose, the noun reads as pointed, often mocking.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Michael B. Schiffer and John H. House assembled The Cache River Archeological Project, published in 1975; 2004 was a reprint. archeology.uark.edu
    • The book uses "cultural quixotics" to criticize explanations invoking inscrutable cultural factors. en.wiktionary.org

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Origin

Don Quixote, the hero whose name is the title of Miguel de Cervantes's novel, gives the word its base. English added -ic to his Spanish surname, Quixote.