Kafkaesque

[ kahf-kuh-esk ]

adjective

1. relating to, characteristic of, or resembling the literary work of Franz Kafka; marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity: Kafkaesque bureaucracies.

   the Kafkaesque terror of the endless interrogations;

   Kafkaesque bureaucracies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kafkaesque¹

First recorded in 1945–50; Kafka + -esque

Example Sentences

She denies stirring up racial hatred, and has described what happened as “Kafkaesque”.

From BBC

The process of getting everyone on the same Zoom call becomes needlessly complex and Kafkaesque.

From Los Angeles Times

The play dramatizes the modern Kafkaesque hell of automated phone systems that make callers wait ungodly amounts of time, to numbing hold music, before speaking to a scripted agent.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a Kafkaesque experience that only worsens the consequences for those who can already ill afford a violation, and to little evident purpose.

From Los Angeles Times

A source close to Dame Ann previously told the BBC that the family were "victims of collusion" and had endured "a Kafkaesque nightmare for the last two years."

From BBC