Meaning & use
quixotic
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableliterary
Driven by high ideals and a sense of romance in a way that ignores what is practical or likely to succeed.
Grammar: Can come before a noun (a quixotic plan) or after a verb (the plan seemed quixotic).
Patterns
- a quixotic attempt to do something
- quixotic about something
His quixotic plan to plant a forest in the desert amazed his neighbors.
It was a quixotic campaign against a giant corporation.
She had a quixotic faith that everyone would simply agree to share.
Word forms
| comparative | more quixotic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most quixotic |
Common combinations
- quixotic quest
- His quixotic quest to find a lost city took ten years.
- quixotic idealism
- Her quixotic idealism inspired but worried her friends.
- quixotic attempt
- It was a quixotic attempt to change the law alone.
- quixotic notion
- He had a quixotic notion that he could stop the traffic.
- somewhat quixotic
- The project seemed somewhat quixotic from the start.
Synonyms and how they differ
- idealistic
- Idealistic simply means guided by ideals, while quixotic adds that the aims are impractical or doomed.
- impractical
- Impractical only says a plan will not work, whereas quixotic also suggests a noble or romantic motive.
- romantic
- Romantic in this sense stresses imagination over realism, but quixotic carries more sense of a hopeless crusade.
- utopian
- Utopian refers to dreams of a perfect society, while quixotic can describe any foolishly noble goal.
Opposites
Word family
- quixotically adverb
- in an idealistic and impractical way
- quixotism noun
- idealistic behavior that ignores practicality
- Don Quixote proper noun
- the hero of Cervantes' novel, the origin of the word
Commonly confused: quixotic or exotic?
quixotic vs exotic
Exotic means unusual and from a foreign place; it is not about impractical idealism.
Practice
Trying to rebuild the old railway single-handedly was a ___ project, noble but nearly impossible.
Choose one answer.
Quixotic describes a noble but impractical aim. Pragmatic is the opposite, as it means sensible and realistic.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “quixotic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.