tilted at windmills
Battled imaginary enemies
Tilted at windmills describes having fought imaginary enemies or wasted effort on misguided crusades.
The phrase comes from Cervantes's *Don Quixote*, whose deluded hero attacks windmills believing them to be giants.
Someone who has tilted at windmills has pursued idealistic but impractical goals, often appearing foolish in hindsight.
He spent years tilted at windmills, convinced the conspiracy would be exposed any day.
- Don QuixoteDelusional self-proclaimed knight-errant
- futilityLack of purpose
- lost causeEndeavor certain to fail
- quixoticImpractically pursuing lofty goals
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
Cervantes · knight-errantry · noble quest · obsession · symbolic gestures · misjudgment · satire · utopianism · idealism · impossible dream · Sancho Panza · romanticism · absurdity · irrationality · stubbornness · overreach · impracticality · chivalry
tilted at windmillspicked one's battles
Chose which conflicts to engage
faced facts · played it safe · compromised · settled · sold out
tilts, tilting, tilted, tilter, windmill, windmills, winds, windiness, mills