Quixotic \Quix*ot"ic\ (kw[i^]ks*[o^]t"[i^]k), a.
1. Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; prone to
pursue unrealizable goals; absurdly chivalric; apt to be
deluded. See also quixotism. "Feats of quixotic
gallantry." --Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
2. Like the deeds of Don Quixote; ridiculously impractical;
unachievable; extravagantly romantic; doomed to failure;
as, a quixotic quest.
[PJC]
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. --Simon Leys
(N. Y. Review
of Books, June
11, 1998, p.
35)
[PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
quixotic
adj : not sensible about practical matters; unrealistic; "as
quixotic as a restoration of medieval knighthood"; "a
romantic disregard for money"; "a wild-eyed dream of a
world state" [syn: romantic, wild-eyed]
WordNet (r) 2.0
35 Moby Thesaurus words for "quixotic":
absurd, airy, autistic, chimerical, dereistic, dreamlike, dreamy,
fanciful, fantastic, foolhardy, idealistic, impracticable,
impractical, in the clouds, mad, optimistic, otherworldly, poetic,
preposterous, rash, reckless, ridiculous, romancing, romantic,
romanticized, starry-eyed, storybook, transcendental, transmundane,
unpractical, unrealistic, unrealizable, visionary, wild,
wish-fulfilling
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
QUIXOTIC, adj. Absurdly chivalric, like Don Quixote. An insight into
the beauty and excellence of this incomparable adjective is unhappily
denied to him who has the misfortune to know that the gentleman's name
is pronounced Ke-ho-tay.
When ignorance from out of our lives can banish
Philology, 'tis folly to know Spanish.
Juan Smith
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)
romantic, wild-eyed
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