Kafkaesqueadj.
/kafkə(r)ˈɛsk/, U.S. /ˌkɑfkəˈɛsk/ Of or relating to the writings of Franz Kafka; resembling the state of affairs or a state of mind described by Kafka.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary world > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of specific writer
Lucianical1561
Xenophontean1593
Sidneian1599
Anastasian1621
Theophrastical1662
Menippean1693
Varronian1693
Herodotean1748
Shaftesburian1752
Cervantic1760
Alfredian1762
Swiftian1762
Richardsonian1763
Pepysian1765
Rabelaica1768
Rabelaisian1769
Johnsonian1775
Radcliffian1801
Southeyan1817
Lucianic1820
Xenophontic1822
Thucydidean1826
Walter Scottish1827
Voltairean1833
Juvenalian1839
Dickens-like1841
Dickensian1842
Voltairish1842
Hazlittian1844
Theocritean1846
Dickensish1849
Ruskinian1850
Ruskinesque1854
Dickensy1855
Dickenesque1856
Macaulayesque1856
Ruskinite1856
Thackerayan1857
Ruskinese1863
Macaulayish1865
Walpolian1867
Dickensesque1868
Voltairianized1872
Baconian1874
Balzacian1874
Morrisian1879
Isidorian1882
Poe-like1882
Peacockian1886
Poe-esque1886
Zolaesque1886
Macaulayan1887
Bunyanesque1888
Fieldingesque1888
Junian1888
Meredithian1888
Tacitean1890
Hugoesque1893
Hardyesque1894
Kiplingesque1894
Shawian1894
Maeterlinckian1895
Dickinsonian1896
Stevensonian1897
Austenish1898
Austenian1901
Leverish1903
Pateresque1903
Trollopian1903
Malorian1904
Shavian1904
Brontesque1905
Chestertonian1905
Jamesian1905
Leveresque1905
Jacobean1906
Carrollese1907
Hardyan1907
Stendhalian1907
Turgenevian1908
Ouidaesque1909
Galsworthian1912
Poeish1915
Paterian1918
Sitwellian1920
Conradian1921
Mallarméan1924
Theophrastian1924
Wildean1924
Pirandellian1925
Proustian1925
Flaubertian1926
Wodehousian1926
Joycean1927
Stracheyan1927
Theophrastic1928
Yeatsian1928
Lawrentian1930
Firbankian1931
Melvillean1931
Leavisite1934
Runyonesque1934
Kafka1936
Woolfian1936
Twainian1938
Rilkean1939
Audenesque1940
Hemingwayesque1942
Brontëan1945
Kafkaesque1947
Leavisian1947
Morrisan1949
Orwellian1950
Faulknerian1951
Hemingwayan1951
Greeneian1952
Arnoldian1953
Thurberesque1954
Tolkienian1954
Beckettian1958
Hemingwayish1959
Nabokovian1959
Pinteresque1960
Pinterish1960
Vernean1960
Waughian1960
Bradleian1961
Gravesian1961
Kafkian1962
Jules Vernean1964
Snovian1966
Pinterian1967
Lucianesque1969
Tolkienesque1970
Thoreauvian1975
Stubbsian1979
1947 New Yorker 4 Jan. 61/1 Warned, he said, by a Kafka-esque nightmare of blind alleys.
1954 A. Koestler Invisible Writing x. 120 Long before the Moscow purges revealed that weird, Kafka-esque pattern to the incredulous world.
1958 Spectator 24 Jan. 114/2 An authentic Kafkaesque atmosphere of despair and horror.
1963 Times 23 May 6/7 Kafkaesque in its grip and pitiless in its exposition of the cruellest of tortures, that of hope.
1972 Newsweek 10 Jan. 51/2 The Kafkaesque self-abnegation of the infamous ‘show trials’ [in Russia].
Derivatives
ˈKafka n. used attributively.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary world > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of specific writer
Lucianical1561
Xenophontean1593
Sidneian1599
Anastasian1621
Theophrastical1662
Menippean1693
Varronian1693
Herodotean1748
Shaftesburian1752
Cervantic1760
Alfredian1762
Swiftian1762
Richardsonian1763
Pepysian1765
Rabelaica1768
Rabelaisian1769
Johnsonian1775
Radcliffian1801
Southeyan1817
Lucianic1820
Xenophontic1822
Thucydidean1826
Walter Scottish1827
Voltairean1833
Juvenalian1839
Dickens-like1841
Dickensian1842
Voltairish1842
Hazlittian1844
Theocritean1846
Dickensish1849
Ruskinian1850
Ruskinesque1854
Dickensy1855
Dickenesque1856
Macaulayesque1856
Ruskinite1856
Thackerayan1857
Ruskinese1863
Macaulayish1865
Walpolian1867
Dickensesque1868
Voltairianized1872
Baconian1874
Balzacian1874
Morrisian1879
Isidorian1882
Poe-like1882
Peacockian1886
Poe-esque1886
Zolaesque1886
Macaulayan1887
Bunyanesque1888
Fieldingesque1888
Junian1888
Meredithian1888
Tacitean1890
Hugoesque1893
Hardyesque1894
Kiplingesque1894
Shawian1894
Maeterlinckian1895
Dickinsonian1896
Stevensonian1897
Austenish1898
Austenian1901
Leverish1903
Pateresque1903
Trollopian1903
Malorian1904
Shavian1904
Brontesque1905
Chestertonian1905
Jamesian1905
Leveresque1905
Jacobean1906
Carrollese1907
Hardyan1907
Stendhalian1907
Turgenevian1908
Ouidaesque1909
Galsworthian1912
Poeish1915
Paterian1918
Sitwellian1920
Conradian1921
Mallarméan1924
Theophrastian1924
Wildean1924
Pirandellian1925
Proustian1925
Flaubertian1926
Wodehousian1926
Joycean1927
Stracheyan1927
Theophrastic1928
Yeatsian1928
Lawrentian1930
Firbankian1931
Melvillean1931
Leavisite1934
Runyonesque1934
Kafka1936
Woolfian1936
Twainian1938
Rilkean1939
Audenesque1940
Hemingwayesque1942
Brontëan1945
Kafkaesque1947
Leavisian1947
Morrisan1949
Orwellian1950
Faulknerian1951
Hemingwayan1951
Greeneian1952
Arnoldian1953
Thurberesque1954
Tolkienian1954
Beckettian1958
Hemingwayish1959
Nabokovian1959
Pinteresque1960
Pinterish1960
Vernean1960
Waughian1960
Bradleian1961
Gravesian1961
Kafkian1962
Jules Vernean1964
Snovian1966
Pinterian1967
Lucianesque1969
Tolkienesque1970
Thoreauvian1975
Stubbsian1979
1936 M. Lowry Let. (1967) 11 This is the perfect Kafka situation.
1962 Guardian 26 Sept. 8/6 I..had wondered if the whole project would turn out to be a Kafka nightmare.
1971 N. Freeling Over High Side ii. 82 So little of what one did made any sense. One lived in a Kafka world.
Kafkaˈesquely adv.
ΚΠ
1958 E. Dundy Dud Avocado i. viii. 147 Postcards and wires to the Paris Embassy were all Kafkaesquely re-routed to that powerful Man in Charge.
ˈKafkan adj.
ΚΠ
1959 Notes & Queries Oct. 381/1 A re-statement of the Kafkan anguish.
1966 New Statesman 25 Mar. 437/1 All the Kafkan stuff..gone seedy and suicidal in a backstreet rooming-house.
ˈKafkaish adj.
ΚΠ
1951 S. Spender World within World v. 272 They became more Kafkaish than ever.
ˈKafkian adj. (attributive) = Kafkaesque adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary world > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of specific writer
Lucianical1561
Xenophontean1593
Sidneian1599
Anastasian1621
Theophrastical1662
Menippean1693
Varronian1693
Herodotean1748
Shaftesburian1752
Cervantic1760
Alfredian1762
Swiftian1762
Richardsonian1763
Pepysian1765
Rabelaica1768
Rabelaisian1769
Johnsonian1775
Radcliffian1801
Southeyan1817
Lucianic1820
Xenophontic1822
Thucydidean1826
Walter Scottish1827
Voltairean1833
Juvenalian1839
Dickens-like1841
Dickensian1842
Voltairish1842
Hazlittian1844
Theocritean1846
Dickensish1849
Ruskinian1850
Ruskinesque1854
Dickensy1855
Dickenesque1856
Macaulayesque1856
Ruskinite1856
Thackerayan1857
Ruskinese1863
Macaulayish1865
Walpolian1867
Dickensesque1868
Voltairianized1872
Baconian1874
Balzacian1874
Morrisian1879
Isidorian1882
Poe-like1882
Peacockian1886
Poe-esque1886
Zolaesque1886
Macaulayan1887
Bunyanesque1888
Fieldingesque1888
Junian1888
Meredithian1888
Tacitean1890
Hugoesque1893
Hardyesque1894
Kiplingesque1894
Shawian1894
Maeterlinckian1895
Dickinsonian1896
Stevensonian1897
Austenish1898
Austenian1901
Leverish1903
Pateresque1903
Trollopian1903
Malorian1904
Shavian1904
Brontesque1905
Chestertonian1905
Jamesian1905
Leveresque1905
Jacobean1906
Carrollese1907
Hardyan1907
Stendhalian1907
Turgenevian1908
Ouidaesque1909
Galsworthian1912
Poeish1915
Paterian1918
Sitwellian1920
Conradian1921
Mallarméan1924
Theophrastian1924
Wildean1924
Pirandellian1925
Proustian1925
Flaubertian1926
Wodehousian1926
Joycean1927
Stracheyan1927
Theophrastic1928
Yeatsian1928
Lawrentian1930
Firbankian1931
Melvillean1931
Leavisite1934
Runyonesque1934
Kafka1936
Woolfian1936
Twainian1938
Rilkean1939
Audenesque1940
Hemingwayesque1942
Brontëan1945
Kafkaesque1947
Leavisian1947
Morrisan1949
Orwellian1950
Faulknerian1951
Hemingwayan1951
Greeneian1952
Arnoldian1953
Thurberesque1954
Tolkienian1954
Beckettian1958
Hemingwayish1959
Nabokovian1959
Pinteresque1960
Pinterish1960
Vernean1960
Waughian1960
Bradleian1961
Gravesian1961
Kafkian1962
Jules Vernean1964
Snovian1966
Pinterian1967
Lucianesque1969
Tolkienesque1970
Thoreauvian1975
Stubbsian1979
1962 tr. J. L. Borges's Labyrinths (1970) 234 The moving object and the arrow and Achilles are the first Kafkian characters in literature.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1936- boughs
- bought
- bought book
- bought deal
- bought house
- bought in
- bought off
- bought out
- bought plea
- bought up
- bought wit is best
- bought wit is best but may cost too much
- bought-door
- bought-seat
- bought-wise
- boughtdoor
- boughted
- boughten
- boughtener
- boughtenest
- boughtenner
- boughtennest
- boughting
- boughtling
- boughtseat