Don Quixote

[ don kee-hoh-tee, don kwik-suht; Spanish dawn kee-haw-te ]

noun

1. the hero of a novel by Cervantes who was inspired by lofty and chivalrous but impractical ideals.
2. (italics) ( Don Quixote de la Mancha ) the novel itself (1605 and 1615).

Don Quixote

/ ˈkwɪksət; don kiˈxote; ˈdɒn kiːˈhəʊtiː /

noun

1. an impractical idealist

Don Quixote

1. (1605–1615) A novel by Miguel de Cervantes . The hero, Don Quixote ( don is a Spanish title of honor), loses his wits from reading too many romances and comes to believe that he is a knight destined to revive the golden age of chivalry . A tall, gaunt man in armor, he has many comical adventures with his fat squire, Sancho Panza .

Notes

A person who is both idealistic and impractical is often said to be “quixotic.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Don Quixote¹

after the hero of Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha

Related Words

• dreamer
• idealist
• prophet
• romantic
• seer
• theorist
• zealot