quixotic
/kwɪkˈsɑtɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.33 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Resembling or characteristic of the Spanish chivalric hero Don Quixote; possessed with or resulting from the desire to do noble and romantic deeds, without thought of realism and practicality.
adj
Overly optimistic and moralistic.
adj
adj
Alternative letter-case form of quixotic.
Example Sentences
- "Olivier, as you know, was quixotic, and would not permit a secret service and spies."
- "The message is not subliminal. […] Characters aren’t just quixotic, they cite Cervantes to one another."
- "The war triggered in [Miguel de] Unamuno the realization that, in hopeless times, quixotic lunacy could save people from the paralysis that often accompanies defeatism."
- "In the digital age, building a new library filled with old-fashioned printed books seems idealistic, almost quixotic."
- "Call it a brain freeze, another 'Aleppo moment,' or a mere campaign stumble, but Gary Johnson has stumbled again in his quixotic presidential campaign."
- "The cultural quixotics attribute the change to inscrutable "cultural factors," which is tantamount to abandoning altogether the search for explanation."
Etymology
Derived from Spanish Quixote, the surname of Don Quixote, the title character in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, + -ic.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kwɪkˈsɑtɪk/
- British English: /kwɪkˈsɒtɪk/
Inflected Forms
more quixotic (comparative)
most quixotic (superlative)
Don Quixotic (alternative)
Don-Quixotic (alternative)
quixotics (plural)