quixotic
Use Quixotic in a sentence
ɪk adjective
1.
( sometimes initial capital letter ) resembling or befitting Don Quixote.
2.
extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
3.
impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To quixotic
00:10
Quixotic
is an SAT word you need to know.
So is colloquial. Does it mean:
| characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal |
| concerned with relatively minor, irrelevant, or superficial aspects of the subject in question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
quixotic (kwɪkˈsɒtɪk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| preoccupied with an unrealistically optimistic or chivalrous approach to life; impractically idealistic | |
| [C18: after | |
| quix'otically | |
| —adv | |
| quixotism | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
quixotic
"extravagantly chivalrous," 1791, from Don Quixote, romantic, impractical hero of Cervantes' satirical novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" (1605). His name lit. means "thigh," also "a cuisse" (a piece of armor for the thigh), in Mod.Sp. quijote, from L. coxa "hip."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
When he did get around to talking about his own ideas, they seemed quixotic.
She is a quixotic mixture of illusion and reality.
Her description of the course of her condition is both delightfully quixotic and terribly sad.
It's probably a quixotic effort, but it is nevertheless touchingly valiant.
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