Kafkaesque

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Kaf·ka·esque

 (käf′kə-ĕsk′)
adj.
1. Of or relating to Franz Kafka or his writings.
2. Marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger: "Kafkaesque fantasies of the impassive interrogation, the false trial, the confiscated passport ... haunt his innocence" (New Yorker).
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Kaf•ka•esque

(ˌkɑf kəˈɛsk)

adj.
1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the writings of Franz Kafka.
2. marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity: Kafkaesque bureaucracies.
[1945–50]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.Kafkaesque - relating to or in the manner of Franz Kafka or his writings
2.kafkaesque - characterized by surreal distortion and a sense of impending danger; "the kafkaesque terror of the endless interrogations"
unrealistic - not realistic; "unrealistic expectations"; "prices at unrealistic high levels"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
kafkaesco

Kafkaesque

[ˌkæfkəˈesk] ADJkafkiano
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Kafkaesque

adjkafkaesk
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
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References in periodicals archive ?
It has turned into this Kafka-esque farce, with the trial still going on to those who are interested.
These last five years have seemed an eternity, or gone in the blink of an eye, depending on my vantage point observing this Kafka-esque place.
That officers "dishonestly" and "wilfully" manipulated intelligence, that the requests to spy were "unlawful" and based on "inaccurate" information and, indeed, were "a complete invention in all respects" is of Kafka-esque proportions.
| CANCER patients are having to beg for treatment in a "Kafka-esque" system after NHS drug cuts, says a report by University College London.
Glaser, naturally, has denied any wrongdoing (his Facebook statement has since been deleted), although in a Kafka-esque turn, he seems also not to have been informed of the exact nature of the allegation, nor who was making them, which makes him either more or less innocent, depending on your particular worldview.
In interviews Monday, Nuzzi and Fittipaldi both called the process "Kafka-esque." With hours to go before the start of trial, neither they nor their lawyers had seen the court file detailing the accusations against them.
Guantanamo Dairy is a difficult, often searing read, though the terrors it describes are, in true Kafka-esque style, mixed with comic absurdities.
It's for unemployed people sanctioned over some Kafka-esque nightmare of bureaucracy - a system that is now coming after people in work.
Like his previous novels, his latest offering tackles the Kafka-esque theme of loneliness and alienation, perhaps more directly than before.