quixotic

(-ĭ-kəl)
adj.

1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.
2. Capricious; impulsive: “At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious” (Louis Auchincloss).

[From English Quixote, a visionary, after Don Quixote, hero of a romance by Miguel de Cervantes.]

quixotically quix·ot'i·cal·ly adv.
quixotism quix'o·tism (kwĭk'sə-tĭz'əm) n.

Four hundred years ago, a quixotic person was a chivalrous gentleman engaged in righting wrongs, a la Don Quixote. In the 21st century, it's more likely to be a porn star trying to break into politics:

"Porn star Mary Carey said on Monday she was dropping out of the California governor's race to be with her injured mother, who has been hospitalized in Florida since jumping off a four-story building last month. Carey, who shot to worldwide fame with her quixotic gubernatorial campaign against Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003..."

Link: Porn star exits Calif. race to be with injured mom - washingtonpost.com.

Posted October 26, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

adjective

Not compatible with reality: idealistic, romantic, starry-eyed, unrealistic, utopian, visionary. See hope/despair, real/imaginary.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

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

---

IN BRIEF: Generous to a ridiculous degree. Also: Impractical.

Trying to please everyone all of the time is considered to be quixotic.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - idealistisk, verdensfjern, don-quijotisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
idealistisch maar wereldvreemd, grillig, onvoorspelbaar, overdreven hoffelijk

Français (French)
adj. - chevaleresque, chimérique

Deutsch (German)
adj. - idealistisch, lebensfremd

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - δονκιχωτικός

Italiano (Italian)
donchisciottesco

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - quixotesco

Русский (Russian)
донкихотский

Español (Spanish)
adj. - quijotesco

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - donquijotisk, idealistisk, ridderlig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
堂吉诃德式的, 不能实现的, 狂想的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 堂吉訶德式的, 不能實現的, 狂想的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 돈키호테식의, 공상적인, 비현실적인

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - ドンキホーテ的な, 空想的な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) سعي غير عملي ورا مثل عليا, غير واقعي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮דון-קישוטי, אבירי‬

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