- arrestedverbChapter 1 →
Taken into legal custody by an authority, meaning a person is officially held and cannot move freely, even if not physically imprisoned or told the reason why.
“without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning.”
- summonedverbChapter 2 →
Officially ordered to appear before a court or authority at a specific time and place, with no real choice about whether to comply.
“I am not here because I wanted to come, I am here because I was summoned.”
- interrogationnounChapter 2 →
A formal, often aggressive session of questioning by officials, especially one in which an accused person is expected to answer charges or explain themselves.
“You have deprived yourself of the advantage that an interrogation always offers to the accused.”
- accusednounChapter 2 →
A person who has been formally charged with or suspected of wrongdoing in a legal proceeding, whether or not any specific crime has been named.
“You have deprived yourself of the advantage that an interrogation always offers to the accused.”
- deprivedverbChapter 2 →
Taken something away from someone, leaving them without a benefit or right they would otherwise have had.
“You have deprived yourself of the advantage that an interrogation always offers to the accused.”
- deliberateadjectiveChapter 4 →
Slow and unhurried to the point of being frustrating, doing everything with calculated, drawn-out carefulness rather than getting to the point.
“He had not thought it possible that anyone could be so deliberate and so tiresome as Fräulein Montag was being.”
- tiresomeadjectiveChapter 4 →
Annoying and exhausting because of being dull, long-winded, or unnecessarily complicated, wearing out a person's patience.
“He had not thought it possible that anyone could be so deliberate and so tiresome as Fräulein Montag was being.”
- conveyedverbChapter 4 →
Successfully communicated or passed on the full meaning or feeling of something to another person.
“she could not have conveyed the full innocence of what had happened.”
- lumber roomnounChapter 5 →
A small storage room used to keep unwanted or unused items, typically cluttered and forgotten, not meant for regular use.
“The next evening, when K. passed by the lumber room again and opened the door as if from habit”
- whippernounChapter 5 →
An official whose assigned role is to physically punish others by beating them, here acting as an agent of the court's disciplinary system.
“"I can't change that," said the whipper, "my function is to whip, and whip I shall."”
- examining magistratenounChapter 5 →
A judicial official responsible for conducting preliminary investigations and hearings into a case, holding authority over the early stages of a legal proceeding.
“'I'm going to be whipped because you complained about me to the examining magistrate.'”
- peculiaritynounChapter 6 →
An unusual physical feature or personal trait that sets someone apart from others and draws attention because it is strange or unexpected.
“She had a peculiarity: the middle and ring fingers of her right hand were joined together by a connecting web of skin”
- connecting web of skinphraseChapter 6 →
A thin membrane of skin that grows between two fingers, fusing them partially together, a rare physical abnormality.
“the middle and ring fingers of her right hand were joined together by a connecting web of skin reaching almost to the top joint of the shorter finger.”
- acquittalnounChapter 7 →
A formal legal judgment that a person is not guilty of the charges against them, fully clearing them of wrongdoing in the eyes of the court.
“Definite acquittal is not something I have ever come across.”
- ostensibleadjectiveChapter 7 →
Appearing to be real or genuine on the surface but not actually so in substance; used here to describe a false or temporary form of freedom that is not a true legal clearing.
- defermentnounChapter 7 →
The repeated postponement of a final legal decision, keeping a case permanently suspended rather than ever reaching a verdict or resolution.
- wretchedadjectiveChapter 7 →
Deeply miserable, degraded, and of the lowest possible quality or condition, suggesting both physical squalor and hopeless despair.
“It was as if the attic had been set aside for the most wretched of all possible uses.”
- proceedingsnounChapter 8 →
The official steps and actions that make up a legal case, including hearings, filings, and judgments, viewed as a formal ongoing process.
“The proceedings look unfavourable.”
- unfavourableadjectiveChapter 8 →
Pointing toward a bad outcome; used here in a legal sense to mean the signs in K.'s case suggest he will not win or be freed.
“The proceedings look unfavourable.”
- kennelnounChapter 8 →
A small shelter or box built for a dog to sleep in, used here as a humiliating comparison to show how completely a person has surrendered their dignity.
“If Huld were to order him to crawl under the bed as if into a kennel and bark there, he would do it gladly.”
- admittancenounChapter 9 →
Permission or the right to enter a place, especially one that is guarded or restricted, here meaning access to the Law itself.
“To this doorkeeper comes a man from the country who begs for admittance to the Law.”
- doorkeepernounChapter 9 →
A guard stationed at an entrance whose job is to control who may pass through, here a figure of absolute, unanswerable authority blocking access to justice.
“Before the Law stands a doorkeeper. To this doorkeeper comes a man from the country who begs for admittance to the Law.”
- misunderstandingnounChapter 9 →
A failure to grasp the true meaning of something, here treated not as the opposite of correct understanding but as something that can exist alongside it at the same time.
“The right perception of any matter and a misunderstanding of the same matter do not wholly exclude each other.”
- perceptionnounChapter 9 →
The way a person interprets or makes sense of something, the mental grasp they have of its true nature or meaning.
“The right perception of any matter and a misunderstanding of the same matter do not wholly exclude each other.”
- necessaryadjectiveChapter 9 →
Unavoidable and inescapable within a given system, here meaning something must be accepted not because it is true or just but because the system leaves no alternative.
“it is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessary.”
- frock coatsnounChapter 10 →
Long, formal men's jackets that reach to the knee, associated with official or ceremonial dress, here giving K.'s executioners a coldly bureaucratic appearance.
- sympathisedverbChapter 10 →
Felt and showed genuine understanding of and sorrow for another person's suffering, wishing to share or ease their pain.
“Someone who sympathised? Someone who wanted to help?”
- outliveverbChapter 10 →
To continue to exist or be felt after something or someone else has ended, here meaning the shame of K.'s death would persist even beyond the moment of dying.
“it was as if the shame of it must outlive him.”
The TrialNovel by Franz Kafka