kafkaesk
[kafkaˈʔɛsk]
The verdict
“kafkaesk” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - im Stil von Franz Kafka
Corpus desk
Index DE-kafkaesk · kafkaesk · German
kafkaesk · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "K" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kafkaesk |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [kafkaˈʔɛsk] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „kafkaesk“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
kafkaesk is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed [kafkaˈʔɛsk]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for kafkaesk, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is kafkaesk, spelled K-A-F-K-A-E-S-K.
Definition
- 1im Stil von Franz Kafka
- 2gebraucht in Situationen, die absurd, rätselhaft und dabei bedrohlich empfunden werden; der Betroffene erlebt ein Gefühl der Unsicherheit, des Ausgeliefertseins; meist im Zusammenhang mit einer Administration mit undurchsichtigen Regeln, die keinen Sinn zu ergeben scheinen
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how kafkaesk appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Nicht von ungefähr mutet im Roman manches kafkaesk an, von hintergründiger Komik, die mit abrupten Schnitten zwischen den Szenen gleich wieder aufgelöst wird.
Im Kampf gegen das französische Sozialmodell legt sie sich regelmäßig mit der Regierung an, deren Gesetze sie „kafkaesk und unlesbar“ nennt.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.