Kafkaesque

adjective

Definition of Kafkaesquenext
1
as in surreal

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in incomprehensible

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of Kafkaesque For the average soccer fan, the quest for 2026 World Cup tickets started last year when FIFA opened its Kafkaesque lottery system. — Natalie B. Compton, Washington Post, 5 June 2026 Much of the book hovers on the edge of reality before diving into moments of Kafkaesque disorder. — Via Catapult, Literary Hub, 5 June 2026 On some level, Hasna senses that such a soulless, Kafkaesque environment has to be hiding worse evils than paycheck withholding and infrequent bathroom breaks. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 18 May 2026 One major limiting factor for figure skating’s broadcast opportunities has been the sport’s reliance on music, the licensing for which has required Kafkaesque levels of clearance, even in the lead-up to Milan. — Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 24 Mar. 2026 The funniest scenes in One Battle After Another find Leonardo DiCaprio’s explosives expert locked in a Kafkaesque squabble with an operator on a revolutionary hotline. — Craigh Barboza, HollywoodReporter, 15 Mar. 2026 Since then, bank customers have complained that they’re still getting cut out of the financial system, but that firms won’t say why — leaving them in a Kafkaesque limbo. — Tom Schoenberg, Bloomberg, 12 Mar. 2026 The high court agreed, in a 5-4 decision with Kafkaesque logic. — Joe Mathews, Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Kafkaesque
  1. surreal
  2. incomprehensible
  3. unusual
  4. inexplicable
  5. irrational
  6. unfathomable
  7. strange
  8. unintelligible
Adjective
  • As production moved forward, Yamazaki repeatedly urged his collaborators to put the surreal experience of Minus One behind them.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Already, the past few days felt like a surreal (and very sweaty) fever dream.
    — Liam Hess, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of surreal
Adjective
  • Across cultures and eras, fashion has served as a means of reflecting on this universal human experience, giving tangible form to the otherwise incomprehensible.
    — Livia Caligor, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Days before the openings, the prospect of showing across his hometown still seemed to Hodges about as incomprehensible as a dream.
    — Tara Anne Dalbow, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • The Wiles interviews stuck out for their candor, which is unusual for a sitting White House chief of staff.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Claude can also flag unusual transactions, duplicate charges, unexpected fees and bills that have gradually increased.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Those turnovers — not crisp offensive execution nor lockdown defense — are why the Knicks turned an inexplicable opening three quarters into a 103-90 victory over their little-brother Nets on Monday.
    — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Returning to the school Now the community faces the daunting task of returning to normal life in a setting marred by inexplicable violence.
    — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of inexplicable
Adjective
  • Because the entire system is rewarded by doing more, investments in prevention are financially irrational.
    — Paul Markovich, STAT, 2 Nov. 2026
  • There’s nothing irrational about voters demanding more from a state where a third of the work force is unemployed and ranks highest in the World Bank inequality index.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • From that moment forward, Vision was dead, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was cast into unfathomable grief and not-so-repressed anger.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 2 Nov. 2026
  • From 2008 to 2011, Moore went an unfathomable 50-3 as Boise State’s starting quarterback.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of unfathomable
Adjective
  • Talk about strange beginnings at Friday’s City Section Division I football playoff opener between Sun Valley Poly and host Marshall.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • And having one of those is as strange and terrifying as anything else in the universe.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • In a courtroom scene, a judge races through a ruling that favors the authorities, reading it in a nearly unintelligible monotone.
    — Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Some of those PowerPoint slides, meanwhile, have been unintelligible.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of unintelligible

Browse Nearby Words

kaffeeklatsches
Kafkaesque
kahuna
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Kafkaesque.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Kafkaesque. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of defer

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All