This week’s theme
Eponyms

This week’s words
Machiavellianism
Don Quixote
thespian
epicure
Momus

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(don kee-HO-tee/tay, don KWIK-suht)

MEANING:

noun: Someone who is unrealistic, naive, chivalrous, idealistic, etc. to an absurd degree.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Don Quixote, hero of the eponymous novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Earliest documented use: 1644. Sometimes the term is used simply as Quixote. The adjectival form is quixotic.

USAGE:

“Being a Don Quixote -- pursuing what other people say is a lost cause -- in our culture is tantamount to being a fool.”
Beverly Willett; I Was Falsely Accused and My Reputation Was Disparaged. I Don’t Regret Fighting Back; USA Today (Arlington, Virginia); Sep 28, 2018.

See more usage examples of Don Quixote in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: