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
  • But those unfamiliar with his surreal talk show appearances, Dumb Starbucks or Door City, here’s a primer on the origin and rise of Fielder.
    — Jenelle Riley, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Rick Rubin episode, and that episode in particular allowed the show to take on this more surreal A24-esque turn, especially in season three.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of surreal
Adjective
  • 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
  • Stanton’s confession ends up being incomprehensible to anyone but himself—an irony that McCarthy, with his partiality for secret codes, seems to take great pleasure in.
    — Max Callimanopulos, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • And now Great Question will, hopefully CBS News thinks, bring that voice to new places, in a digital expansion that is unusual for an evening news anchor.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • But the book walks the reader through Raichlen’s unusual path to becoming a food writer obsessed with the art of barbecuing.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 23 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
  • The industrial revolutions of the past produced enormous value alongside bankruptcies, dislocations, and periods of irrational exuberance.
    — Brian Solis, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • If anyone can reconstruct Apéry’s reasoning, the odd values of zeta may finally be proven irrational.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • Taken together, these two mistakes represented an almost-unfathomable breach of basic diligence.
    — Daniel Duane, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The Baltimore Ravens were in a goal-to-go setting, trailing 23-15 and needing to do the statistically unfathomable — according to CBS, teams behind by 8-plus points inside the final minute had lost 581 straight games.
    — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of unfathomable
Adjective
  • After Orson’s reading from the novel, the broadcast cuts in on a weather report that is then followed by a dance music concert, but the smooth tango music is interrupted by breaking news of strange explosions on Mars.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • However, a strange light phenomenon and the arrival of her physicist ex-husband pull her back into the scientific world.
    — Cooper Katz McKim, NPR, 23 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 27 Oct. 2026.

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