1
as in surreal
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2
as in incomprehensible
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Example Sentences
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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.
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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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Its surreal position—perched high on a cliff above the eastern coastline—makes views from almost any spot, balcony, window, heart-thumping ones.—
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For Rousouli, bringing the show to Broadway after nearly a decade feels surreal.—
Adjective
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The scope of the effort is almost incomprehensible, both for its sheer size and persistence on a low-lying peninsula, where the delineation between land and sea has always been somewhat unclear and is becoming less so.—
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In these cases, the equations will predict a fluid moving in some unphysical, incomprehensible way — spinning into an impossibly fast vortex, for instance, or instantly reversing its flow.—
Adjective
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This translation by Nancy Naomi Carlson preserves the rich musicality of the original French, as well as its frequent use of wordplay and often unusual word choice.—
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Ostrich Leather Recognizable by its distinctive quill pattern and supple texture, ostrich leather combines durability with an unusual kind of beauty.—
Adjective
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So the choice to focus this one on a makeover for Margaret, a character two levels removed from the plot, is particularly inexplicable.—
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The network put the kibosh on this story for inexplicable reasons.—
Adjective
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Cramer warned that these moments can feel chaotic — even irrational — but are often driven by valuation extremes finally snapping back toward equilibrium.—
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Often, these unjustifiable fears arise simply because people draw irrational conclusions from rational concerns.—
Adjective
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God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma.—
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On the contrary, over his previous four games (featuring three Knicks losses), Towns shot 4-of-9 from the field against the New Orleans Pelicans, 5-of-10 against the San Antonio Spurs, 6-of-16 against the Philadelphia 76ers and an unfathomable one-of-four against the Detroit Pistons.—
Adjective
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The sounds had become a strange new normal for the diverse Central neighborhood.—
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And there was a strange preoccupation with running out of time, even though the show ended a good 15 minutes early as if the performers didn’t understand their own timeline.—
Adjective
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As satire, Next to Heaven is unintelligible, as though someone is universalizing their own hangups and then skewering them for clout.—
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A number of individuals who were in that classroom told authorities that the gunman shouted an unintelligible statement and then began shooting students.—
Cite this Entry
“Kafkaesque.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Kafkaesque. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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