Kafkaesque

adjective

Definition of Kafkaesquenext
1
as in surreal

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2
as in incomprehensible

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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
  • The past is asserting itself into the present, the future is teetering toward the past, all inside one surreal moment.
    — Rebekah Taussig, Time, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Perhaps the most surreal deviation from the mainline DCU is writer Deniz Camp and artist Javier Rodriguez’s Absolute Martian Manhunter.
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 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 order of events in the Weeks recusal was somewhat unusual.
    — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Oct. 2026
  • Scheels argued this year that the Ada County Assessor’s Office had overvalued its unusual building.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • There’s a large degree of inexplicable, designer magic to it—but also a little math.
    — Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Technical considerations can be discussed, but the decisions that shape an image ultimately arise from something inexplicable.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of inexplicable
Adjective
  • Giving any person a $100 million contract to coach a college athletic team is irrational.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The industrial revolutions of the past produced enormous value alongside bankruptcies, dislocations, and periods of irrational exuberance.
    — Brian Solis, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 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
  • Alexi’s script gets to the heart of the strange, necessary bonds between humans and animals.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Something in the movement of his hands, too fast, too smooth, too precise, and something in the play of the light and shadow across his knuckles, reveals that something strange is at work.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • In fact, it is rooted in the same rhetoric as the black box metaphor, which similarly blurs the complex aspects of AI by framing inner workings as confined and unintelligible.
    — Trent Wintermeier, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Painter expressed concern that paper trail may one day become unintelligible if AI models begin using their own language to track their steps.
    — Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of unintelligible

Browse Nearby Words

kaffeeklatsches
Kafkaesque
kahuna
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Cite this Entry

“Kafkaesque.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Kafkaesque. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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