quixotic

3 definitions found

quixotic - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  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]

quixotic - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  quixotic
      adj 1: not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and
             unrealistic; "as quixotic as a restoration of medieval
             knighthood"; "a romantic disregard for money"; "a wild-
             eyed dream of a world state" [syn: quixotic,
             romantic, wild-eyed]

quixotic - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  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