Quixotic \kwik-SAH-tik\ adjective 1: foolishly impractical especially
in the pursuit of ideals
2: capricious, unpredictable
EXAMPLES Pauline characterized her Halloween decorating
plans as ambitious, but she secretly feared that "quixotic"
was a more apt descriptor.
"David Smith has chased for at least 15 years what seemed aquixotic challenge—finding a way to harness the energy remaining in discarded batteries which could represent at least 50 percent of their power capacity." — Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina), September 28, 2014
"David Smith has chased for at least 15 years what seemed aquixotic challenge—finding a way to harness the energy remaining in discarded batteries which could represent at least 50 percent of their power capacity." — Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina), September 28, 2014
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,
Rocinante.
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