knight-errantry

[ nahyt-er-uhn-tree ]

/ ˈnaɪtˈɛr ən tri /

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noun, plural knight-er·rant·ries.

the behavior, vocation, or character of a knight-errant.

quixotic conduct or action.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of knight-errantry

First recorded in 1645–55; knight-errant + -ry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use knight-errantry in a sentence

Those mighty enquiries were the intellectual jousts and tournaments of the age of chivalry and knight errantry.
The Way to Abolish Slavery|Charles Stearns
The king seems to have had no definite purpose beyond gratifying his taste for knight-errantry.
Battles of English History|H. B. (Hereford Brooke) George
It was the old axiom of knight-errantry adapted to our own century, which made every weapon fair used against the plebeian!
Roland Cashel|Charles James Lever
And as all this passed rapidly through her mind it aroused all her knight-errantry, raising a strongly protective spirit in her.
The History of Sir Richard Calmady|Lucas Malet

Then I resolved with true knight-errantry To burst the door, and set the captive free.
The Peace Egg and Other tales|Juliana Horatia Ewing

British Dictionary definitions for knight-errantry

knight errantry

noun

the practices of a knight errant

quixotic behaviour or practices

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012