What do you call a person who is chasing a hopeless or lost cause?
-
1A dreamer, an irresponsible headstrong person, ... you should provide more context if you want a more precise term.– user66974May 19, 2015 at 9:45
-
dreamer is not like chasing a hopeless cause.– NeelamMay 19, 2015 at 9:57
-
One definition of dreamer is : a habitually impractical or unrealistic person. (AHD) .– user66974May 19, 2015 at 9:58
-
The word 'fantasist' is also used for someone with unrealistic expectations.– Edwin AshworthMay 19, 2015 at 10:18
-
stubborn or muleheaded– jdb1a1May 19, 2015 at 17:01
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
I'd call them Quixotic [Oxford]
Extremely idealistic; unrealistic and impractical:
However, Quixotic usually describes ideas (as against the three words in its definition, which can describe both ideas and people). To describe people, I think you might have to go with the character name: Quixote
EDIT: Based on the comments, I think most people, like me, are okay with Quixotic in this sense. And as @Oldbag points out, we also have 'Quixotical' (though he doesn't think Quixotic is wrong)
A term gaining traction is the incurable optimist [Forbes]
If you're flexible on the one-word restriction, you could say:
He's hoping against hope.
answered May 19, 2015 at 10:15
-
The adjective is "quixotical', but I don't think it's wrong to describe a person as "quixotic', i.e., the meaning would be understood.– OldbagMay 19, 2015 at 11:03
-
@Oldbag: I hope you're right. I think 'quixotic' should be acceptable, but you never know when some pedant is gonna throw a dictionary in your face, hence the disclaimer. May 19, 2015 at 11:06
-
I don't find 'unachievable goal' to be synonymous with 'lost cause'. Isn't that the point of the story?– MazuraMay 19, 2015 at 12:57
-
@Mazura: Even if every 'unachievable goal' isn't a lost cause, it can be argued that every lost cause is an unachievable goal. May 19, 2015 at 13:01
-
@Oldbag, think again. Quixotic is indeed an adjective, as the Oxford link above shows, and far more common than Quixotical in that role. May 19, 2015 at 15:12
a person who is chasing a hopeless or lost cause?
There is set phrase that actually describes exactly your person and it is:
Fool.
Just thinking laterally.
answered May 19, 2015 at 14:06
