quixotism

[ kwik-suh-tiz-uh m ]

/ ˈkwɪk səˌtɪz əm /

(sometimes initial capital letter) quixotic character or practice.

a quixotic idea or act.

Origin of quixotism

1660–70; ( Don) Quixote + -ism

For in that character there has dawned a sort of Quixotism which never used to be there.

Dead Souls |Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
My good fellow, leave your quixotism behind you with your poverty.

The Sorrows of Satan |Marie Corelli
If, as Pacheco reports, Luis de Leon was the most taciturn of men, he was chivalrous to the point of quixotism.

Fray Luis de Len |James Fitzmaurice-Kelly
I was sorry for my old guest, but vexed with him too; what business had he to carry his Quixotism to such an unpleasant length?

Villa Rubein and Other Stories |John Galsworthy

His name was Graves, and he regarded what he called the judge's "quixotism" with condescending good-nature.

The Voice of the People |Ellen Glasgow