quixotic
Americanadjective
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(of a goal, action, or impulse) characterized by impractical idealism or by extravagant chivalry and romantic imagination.
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impulsive, overeager, or capricious.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) resembling or befitting Don Quixote.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of quixotic
First recorded in 1805–15; (Don) Quixote + -ic
Explanation
Use quixotic for someone or something that is romantic and unrealistic, or possessed by almost impossible hopes. Your quixotic task is easy to understand, if difficult to achieve: establish world peace. What a wonderful word quixotic is! While it is most often used to mean equally impractical and idealistic, it also has the sense of romantic nobility. Its source is from the great Spanish novel "Don Quixote," whose title character is given to unrealistic schemes and great chivalry. In the middle of a recession and high unemployment, it would be quixotic to imagine that you could quit your job and find another easily.
Vocabulary lists containing quixotic
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Scrabble: High Scoring Words
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40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Togelius’s and Hassabis’s origin stories are relics of a bygone era where gaming was the money-making machine and AI was a quixotic science experiment.
From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026
“He wants to win this battle with the city; he wants to win in court. It’s become this personal quixotic quest for him,” agreed Ed.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
“This isn’t some sort of quixotic top-line grab,” Jassy said of the company’s AI investments.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 13, 2026
What the film shows us, in what seems a very honest if impressionistic depiction, is that most of the world was not necessarily obsessed with rock and pop and quixotic campaigns to change the world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
A quixotic hero dreams the impossible dream. realtor.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
