Word of the Day

: April 19, 2008

quixotic

adjective kwik-SAH-tik

What It Means

1 : foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action

2 : capricious, unpredictable

quixotic in Context

Marta has been desperately trying to convince her friends to give up their cars and computers and return to nature on Earth Day, but it has been a quixotic crusade.

Did You Know?

If you guessed that "quixotic" has something to do with Don Quixote, you're absolutely right. The hero of the 17th-century Spanish novel El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (by Miguel de Cervantes) didn't change the world by tilting at windmills, but he did leave a linguistic legacy in English. The adjective "quixotic" is based on his name and has been used to describe unrealistic idealists since at least the early 18th century. The novel has given English other words as well. "Dulcinea," the name of Quixote's beloved, has come to mean "mistress" or "sweetheart," and "rosinante," which is sometimes used to refer to an old, broken-down horse, comes from the name of the hero's less-than-gallant steed.

*Indicates the sense illustrated by the example sentence.