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Kafkaesque

adjective

Definition of Kafkaesquenext
1
as in surreal

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2
as in incomprehensible

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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
  • A bit Kubrick, a bit BLACK MIRROR but also feels original — a surreal, weird, funny study on (human) nature and storytelling.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The next night, the Dead brought the Bangles onstage, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, to sing along and dance — a truly surreal duet.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of surreal
Adjective
  • Life unfolds over an incomprehensible span of scales, from our planet-enveloping biosphere at one end, to individual cell-building biomolecules at the other.
    — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The Music City Miracle now has a rival after Vanderbilt's improbable, and frankly incomprehensible, last-second victory against NC State on Saturday afternoon.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • Voters are deeply concerned about income disparity but also skeptical about the unusual approach of the billionaire tax.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The incident adds an unusual detail to the growing record of autonomous AI behavior.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Remedy games encourage a kind of obsession and fascination from players, not just with inexplicable lore but with thick atmosphere.
    — Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Since at least 1389, two vials purportedly containing the saint’s blood have been venerated in Naples because of their inexplicable ability to liquefy on his feast days.
    — Clare Whitton, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of inexplicable
Adjective
  • The fact, in other words, that there often isn’t a right answer or a clear victor—and that rational people are subject to irrational forces within and above them.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Mathematicians have long known that some polynomial equations have only rational solutions, while others have irrational solutions (such as ).
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • The masked suspect who fatally shot a beloved barber while trying to steal his handmade Miami Cuban bracelet outside a Queens strip club ran off empty-handed, but left those who knew the victim with an unfathomable hole in their hearts.
    — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • A lot like his unfathomable eternity with the Royals, a job that he somehow was offered as a 25-year-old in 1969 with scant experience.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of unfathomable
Adjective
  • The reunion becomes even stranger when Constance prepares for a dark holiday celebration, with Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) from Cult helping decorate a black Christmas tree topped with a pentagram.
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The public wiki case offers a particularly strange example of the problem.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • Then Mikayla makes an almost unintelligible crack about Doug, which sends Taylor back into a rage spiral.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Assuming viewers understood the history of English soccer — or even the offside rule — could make the broadcasts unintelligible for new fans who understood neither.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 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 29 Sep. 2026.

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