Make Your Point > Archived Issues > QUIXOTIC
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pronounce
QUIXOTIC:
Say it "quick ZOT ick."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Which would offend you the most: being called a Quixote (a noble but idiotic dreamer), a Pangloss, or a Micawber?
All three would suggest that you're foolishly optimistic, but in slightly different ways. Could you explain those slight differences?
definition:
In Miguel de Cervantes's 1605 novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, the title character is this ridiculous man who obsessively reads tons of old stories about knights. ("Quixote" is pronounced "kee HO tee.") According to the narrator, those stories are full of "enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense," and Quixote assumes it's all real. He declares himself a knight and heads off on what he thinks will be grand adventures.
He makes a fool of himself, because he (and his knightly ideals) are impractical and out-of-touch. For example, he mistakes windmills for giants and tries to attack them. The world is no place for the kind of brave, daring, romantic, questing knight that he's so eager to be.
The novel remains popular. And in English, since about 1644, we've referred to people as Don Quixotes, or just Quixotes, if they remind us of the novel's hero because they're so foolishly or unrealistically idealistic.
The name then morphed into a verb. We don't use it anymore today, but to "quixote" was to go wandering off on foolish and idealistic adventures. Here's Gilbert Haven: "It was not for us to go a Quixoting over the world rescuing imaginary Dulcineas from imaginary robbers (1869)."
Soon after that, around 1718, the name morphed into the adjective that we use today. Quixotic people and things are noble or idealistic in a foolish, unrealistic way.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "this quixotic quest;" "His run for the presidency was quixotic."
Other forms:
The common ones are "Quixote(s)," pronounced "kee HO tee(s);" and "quixotically," pronounced "quick ZOT ick lee."
For a noun, you can pick between "quixotism" and "quixotry."
You might see a few alternate adjectives: "quixotical" and "quixotish." I recommend sticking with the more common "quixotic."
Some writers have used "quixotize" and even "de-quixotize" as verbs. Feel free to do the same, but these strike me as ugly. I suggest "illude" and "disillusion" instead.
how to use it:
Pick the formal, semi-common "quixotic" to call a bit of extra attention to something foolish and impossible, despite being noble or valiant.
Talk about quixotic hopes, goals, beliefs, quests, attempts, campaigns, projects, promises, expectations, etc.
People, too, can be quixotic. You might talk about quixotic dreamers, candidates, buyers of lotto tickets, etc.
Because the original Quixote "tilts at windmills," attacking them on horseback with his lance because he thinks they're giants, we use that phrase metaphorically to say that someone is fighting an enemy that doesn't exist, or undertaking a quest that can't be completed. Check out this example from Scientific American: "Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist... is proposing a major effort to find aliens in our solar system, perhaps even in our airspace... He is regarded by some in the astronomy community as a knight-errant, tilting at windmills."
examples:
"Despite the quixotic claims of modern neuroscience, there is no cure for trauma."
— David J. Morris, The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2015
"[The artist Ed Fornieles] wants to capture that quixotic moment in young people's lives when they arrive at college – when they are away from home, often for the first time, their personalities not yet fully formed."
— Jessica Lack, The Guardian, 21 January 2011
has this page helped you understand "quixotic"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "quixotic" without saying "stupidly chivalrous" or "idealistic in an out-of-touch way."
try it out:
The story of Don Quixote inspired a 1959 teleplay, which inspired a 1965 musical, Man of La Mancha. From one of the musical's songs, check out these quixotic lyrics:
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
And to run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
And to love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
Oh, no matter how hopeless
No matter how far
Talk about your own quixotic, impossible dream or quest: that thing you would do if it were even remotely possible. What makes it so hopelessly quixotic? What makes it worth considering anyway?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for August is "Heard it in Hamilton."
Check out a snippet of lyrics from Hamilton: An American Musical, and see if you can come up with the missing word. You can check your answer by scrolling all the way down.
Try this one today:
HAMILTON:
Congrats to you, Lieutenant Colonel.
I wish I had your command instead of manning George's journal.
BURR:
No, you don't.
HAMILTON:
Yes, I do.
BURR:
Now, be sensible.
From what I hear, you've made yourself _____.
Definition of the missing word: "necessary, essential, or more literally 'unable to be gotten rid of.'"
Number of syllables: 5.
review this word:
1.
A few near opposites of QUIXOTIC are
A. IGNOBLE and PRACTICABLE.
B. IMPROPER and WELL-PLANNED.
C. IGNORANT and DEATH-DEFYING.
2.
Kj Dell'Antonia, a parenting blogger with the New York Times, wondered if her plan to _____ might be "both quixotic and _____."
A. ban her kids from eating in the car .. doomed
B. help her kids deal with an annoying classmate .. meddlesome
C. chide strangers for asking if her young son has a girlfriend .. oversensitive
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Say it "quick ZOT ick."
Which would offend you the most: being called a Quixote (a noble but idiotic dreamer), a Pangloss, or a Micawber?
In Miguel de Cervantes's 1605 novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, the title character is this ridiculous man who obsessively reads tons of old stories about knights. ("Quixote" is pronounced "kee HO tee.") According to the narrator, those stories are full of "enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense," and Quixote assumes it's all real. He declares himself a knight and heads off on what he thinks will be grand adventures.
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, semi-common "quixotic" to call a bit of extra attention to something foolish and impossible, despite being noble or valiant.
"Despite the quixotic claims of modern neuroscience, there is no cure for trauma."
Explain the meaning of "quixotic" without saying "stupidly chivalrous" or "idealistic in an out-of-touch way."
The story of Don Quixote inspired a 1959 teleplay, which inspired a 1965 musical, Man of La Mancha. From one of the musical's songs, check out these quixotic lyrics:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1.
A few near opposites of QUIXOTIC are
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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