quixotic kwik-SOT-ik, adjective:
1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.
2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.
Some of his plans were quixotic and much too good for this world, but he never wavered in a cause that he considered just and he commanded the respect of all who opposed him.
-- "Dr. John Dewey Dead at 92; Philosopher a Noted Liberal", New York Times, June 2, 1952
He is buying up commercial buildings in his hometown of Archer City and filling them with used books -- hundreds of thousands of used books gathered from all over the country -- as part of a quixotic scheme to turn this sleepy rural community into a mecca for book lovers.
-- Mark Horowitz, "Larry McMurtry's Dream Job", New York Times, December 7, 1997
I was amazed to learn that he didn't have much experience climbing mountains and that he wasn't intending to do any intensive training for his quixotic expedition.
-- Michael D. Eisner, Work in Progress
Quixotic refers to the eccentric, generous idealism of Don Quixote, the hero of a satiric romance by Miguel de Cervantes.
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