Quixotic means futilely idealist, or idealistic but futile. Don Quixote in the
the book of the same name tries to re-enact old tales of chivalry. He
rushes to the aid of what he thinks is a beautiful damsel in distress –
he doesn’t notice that she’s a plain kitchen maid of dubious morals. He
was the original tilter at windmills. He thought they were giants, and
attacked them with a spear usually used for jousting, or tilting. A
quixotic campaign is doomed to failure through basic misunderstanding.
Here it is used correctly:
John Symmes nearly succeeded in convincing Congress to fund an
expedition to the North Pole, where he intended to prove his theory that
the earth was hollow and ripe for exploitation; his quixotic quest
counted Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe among its greatest admirers. Web
review
He notes many experts used to dismiss [energy-generating] windmill
parks, now widespread in countries like Denmark, as quixotic. Reuters
Nov 11 02
People give it a smorgasbord of meanings:
arcane Winemakers still have not quite mastered the
quixotic art.
blue-sky The idea of Queen Camilla may not be so
quixotic.
capricious If the Telegraph Group is going to behave
quixotically and inexplicably in relation to my brother then I feel
perfectly entitled to behave quixotically and inexplicably in relation
to them and their big day. Nigella Lawson, who cancelled a speaking
arrangement at a Daily Telegraph event.
enigmatic Once an activity goes underground, it becomes
splintered, subtle, quixotic. Times December 17, 2008
exotic In Coningsby ... the quixotic Sidonia pronounces
“All is race; there is no other truth." Tristram Hunt Guardian Apr 13 02
idiosyncratic Due to my quixotic aversion to needles.
Guardian or Times 2008
incongruous She found herself, quixotically for a
feminist, writing features for Woman’s Weekly. Guardian April 12 06
misplaced One of the most intriguing and quixotic
applications of Darwinian theory began with breeding experiments on a
now-extinct South African zebroid, the quagga, and ended with the
formulation of a bogus theory of genetic transmission: telegony. Review
of Anti-Semitism, Misogyny and the Logic of Cultural Difference: Cesare
Lombroso and Matilde Serao, by Nancy A. Harrowitz (findarticles.com)
otiose The kind of quixotic anomaly (the detouring
laryngeal nerve) that no "designer" would ever have allowed. Review ofThe Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
paradoxical The room is empty, but the picture is full,
vibrating with quixotic motion. Laura Cumming, Observer Mar 11 01
picaresque He embarked on a quixotic and exhilarating
scientific investigation. Victor Lewis Smith, The Evening Standard June 1
01. (But Quixote did go on a picaresque journey…)
pointless Quixotic attempts to re-create John Lennon's
drabbest solo efforts. (Times 08)
puckish Was it not the quixotic Gilbert Harding who claimed
that the world would have a rather different view of gay people if they
all turned green overnight? Letter to Guardian, December 27, 2008 (People seem to think puckish means perverse, but that's another story.)
quirky Gloria Grahame's career began to wane after her
quixotic, but successful casting in the musical movie Oklahoma!
random Predicting the changing face of life on Earth was
never simple, but evolution may be even more quixotic than we thought.
New Scientist headline March 2010
reckless I doubt whether he played it with as much
quixotic verve as the young Russian pianist Polina Leschenko. Times 08
unpredictable [Mahler] could be quixotic, quick-tempered,
and demanding. Allan Keiler in NYRB Feb 14 2002
