1
as in surreal
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2
as in incomprehensible
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Recent Examples of Kafkaesque
Those who value and respect America but couldn’t find their way through the Kafkaesque immigration system deserve a chance to rectify their situation.
—
Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 10 Aug. 2025
In a Kafkaesque twist, Trump’s chart assigns Eswatini the lowest possible (10 percent) reciprocal tariff, despite the fact the nation applies the same external tariffs as Lesotho.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
To be fair, dealing with any healthcare bureaucracy in America is sure to be frustrating and annoying, and will most likely turn into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
—Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 27 June 2025
Obtaining a permit to fly a drone in Nepal as a foreigner was a somewhat Kafkaesque exercise in patience.
—Ben Ayers, Outside Online, 6 May 2025
These are intentional Kafkaesque problems that the Trump Administration is creating.
—Grace Byron, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2025
No one wants to have their family vacation turned into some Kafkaesque nightmare at the hands of ICE agents emboldened by the country's general climate of incipient fascism.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
That standard was used to suppress the speech of faculty, such as Northwestern professor Laura Kipnis, who in a Kafkaesque turn was the subject of a legal complaint by students under Title IX for writing an op-ed column criticizing the Obama view of Title IX.
—The Editors, National Review, 16 Apr. 2025
Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 10 Aug. 2025
In a Kafkaesque twist, Trump’s chart assigns Eswatini the lowest possible (10 percent) reciprocal tariff, despite the fact the nation applies the same external tariffs as Lesotho.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
To be fair, dealing with any healthcare bureaucracy in America is sure to be frustrating and annoying, and will most likely turn into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
—Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 27 June 2025
Obtaining a permit to fly a drone in Nepal as a foreigner was a somewhat Kafkaesque exercise in patience.
—Ben Ayers, Outside Online, 6 May 2025
These are intentional Kafkaesque problems that the Trump Administration is creating.
—Grace Byron, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2025
No one wants to have their family vacation turned into some Kafkaesque nightmare at the hands of ICE agents emboldened by the country's general climate of incipient fascism.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
That standard was used to suppress the speech of faculty, such as Northwestern professor Laura Kipnis, who in a Kafkaesque turn was the subject of a legal complaint by students under Title IX for writing an op-ed column criticizing the Obama view of Title IX.
—The Editors, National Review, 16 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Kafkaesque
Adjective
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That sky-high valuation has been propelled by some truly surreal buying behavior from everyday investors.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
16 June 2026
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There are going to be a lot of surreal moments surrounding the World Cup in Kansas City, as much for the diehards and casuals in their soccer fandom as for the locals and visitors.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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That principle has crumbled so far in the face of Wembanyama’s combination of incomprehensible on-court abilities, youthful enthusiasm and cosmopolitan-unto-eccentric savoir faire.—
Leah Asmelash,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
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The comparison, though not quite apples-to-apples, demonstrates the almost incomprehensible scale of the World Cup.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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French authorities said unusual betting patterns were detected around a yellow card Wahi received in a Ligue 1 match while playing for Nice last month.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
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The bar can do classic and pretty, strong and aromatic, familiar and unusual in the same round.—
Noel Burgess,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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There are definitely laughs in Maddie’s Secret, but the point of the movie is almost to get beyond them, to the place where naive hokum could yield moments of inexplicable resonance.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
19 June 2026
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But the files reveal new details about some recent sightings, along with the government’s efforts to explain what many find inexplicable.—
Collin Binkley,
Fortune,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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Bill stutters an affirmative response that captures every man who has held out irrational hope that a woman will return to him.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
16 June 2026
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The book is Labarge’s attempt to tell the story of what happened to her and her family without sanitizing what happened, which requires her (and the reader) to sit with thoughts that are sometimes incoherent and irrational.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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But what feels most haunting about the arc of then to now, about Smith’s unfathomable issues and woes — yet obvious heart and particularly evident quest to find himself in recent years — is that his words then were spoken with a sense of arrival and past tense.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
20 June 2026
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The lack of a competitive instinct from any of the cable carriers is unfathomable, very similar to Smith Corona Marchant, which filed for reorganization in 1995.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
14 June 2026
Adjective
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Truth is stranger than fiction.—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
17 June 2026
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As Photay, Shornstein—a master synthesist and producer—flits between atmospheric house, dubby breakbeat workouts, and chirping electro funk, building his songs’ arrangements into strange, angular shapes.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
16 June 2026
Adjective
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The world premiere on Sunday – in the presence of Illumination boss Chris Meledandri and director Pierre Coffin, who is also the origin of the minions’ unintelligible chatter – kicks off one of the biggest Annecy Film Festival’s yet.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
19 June 2026
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The adversaries made for a striking scene, exchanging insults in mutually unintelligible languages in the dead of night.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Kafkaesque.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Kafkaesque. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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