Word Wednesday: Quixotic

adj \kwik-ˈsä-tik\

Definition of QUIXOTIC

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

: capricious, unpredictable

— quix·ot·i·cal adjective

— quix·ot·i·cal·ly adverb

See quixotic defined for English-language learners »

See quixotic defined for kids »

Origin of QUIXOTIC

Don Quixote

First Known Use: 1718

Related to QUIXOTIC

Synonyms: idealist, idealistic, quixotical, romantic, starry, starry-eyed, utopian, visionary

Antonyms: clear-eyed, clear-sighted

Use it in a sentence!

“Watch as I start a juice fast when I write a part-time food blog!” she said quixotically one day.

Her quixotic attitude toward life was beginning to wear on him. He was a more staid, button-wearing type person.

I have found that this word can also be used to express surprise at someone’s suddenly changed behavior.

My favorite example of this is in The Importance of Being Earnest, when Cecily says to Earnest/Algie after he professes a desire to become “good”, “Well, it’s a little quixotic of you, but I think you should try.” Then he says, “I’m feeling better already.” And she says, “You’re looking rather worse.”

I might just have to transcribe the entire thing on here, because there is just no good stopping place in the wit. I suppose that would be pretty quixotic of me.

Go be quixotic!

Comments

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner(s)!

Did you know that you can buy an entire chicken at the grocery story for less than $6? Well, you can. And if you are willing to put up with a little home butchering, it can make enough food to last you almost a week. I bought a chicken last weekend for our Sunday meal, and used the last of it just yesterday. This is a huge help when you are trying to mitigate the expensive cost of meat in your grocery budget. First, it needs a little work. I roasted the chicken for our weekend dinner, and I always butterfly it because it cooks faster that way. I'm not going to sugarcoat it--butterflying a chicken is kind of gross. Really gross, actually. But if you can overcome your squeamishness, it cooks great. There are a lot of great tutorials for doing this on YouTube, but here is how I did it. Step 1: Remove the giblets (the heart, neck, and gizzard). This is disgusting because you must reach into a dead animal and pull out its organs. But once they are out, you can throw them away, ...

I Am Afraid of Snakes

I am giving you some valuable information here. Snakes are my biggest fear. My second biggest fear is that upon discovering my biggest fear, people will pounce on it and send me snakes in the mail, or put them in my bed, or my car, or throw them in my face like David Bowie did to Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth . So, the other day, when Norris was getting ready to go on a short trip, we were talking about all the critters in our yard. Normally I like all these critters. We have a bunch of toads (like, seriously, we have like 20 toads in our back yard—and that’s just the ones we can find. Toads freaking love us.) and a couple tree frogs, and some praying mantises, and snails, and a family of birds (dusky flycatchers—the babies all just flew away and I was very sad) that nested in our patio light fixture, and for a few days we had a raccoon living in one of our trees. We also have a couple of hawks (I mean two hawks that are in a committed relationship. We know they care about each...

It's World Teacher's Day!

It's World Teacher Day! A very important day. Education is something that I feel very passionately about, and while I try not to get too political on my blog, I do feel strongly that America does a disservice to its children by not providing them with quality education, and depriving teachers of resources and wages that they need to do their jobs. Teachers are valuable for more than simply providing kids with information. Often, teachers in low-income communities are the only stable adult that children come in contact with. They are role models and encouragers and sounding boards and confidants. I personally can remember several teachers that had a huge impact on my life and taught me things that I really do use to this day. Without them, I can truly say I would not be who I am. So let's take this moment to celebrate the educators around the world and thank them for everything they do! Grammarly has provided this great infographic detailing some fun facts about teac...

As Yet Untitled

Search This Blog