Čapek

American  

[chah-pek] / ˈtʃɑ pɛk /

noun

1. Karel 1890–1938, Czech playwright, novelist, and producer.

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Čapek British  

/ ˈtʃapɛk /

noun

1. Karel (ˈkarɛl). 1890–1938, Czech dramatist and novelist; author of R.U.R. (1921), which introduced the word "robot", and (with his brother Josef ) The Insect Play (1921).

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Example Sentences

Jonas also likes the 1920s play “R.U.R” by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek, which is credited with popularizing the word “robot.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Science fiction has been making promises and issuing warnings about humanoid machines since before the Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the word “robot” in a 1920 play.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Forget the lily ponds; Čapek is the Thurber of compost. Wit and cow dung: What more could you possibly want?

From The New Yorker • May 31, 2017

There is also great hope 2016 will see the release of The Insects, an adaptation of a Karel Čapek play by the legendary 81-year-old Czech animator Jan Švankmajer.

From The Guardian • Jan. 1, 2016

For a detailed and exhaustive list of all writings in the English language on Bohemia and the Czecho-Slovaks, see Bohemian Bibliography, by Thomas Čapek and Anna Vostrovsky Čapek, published by the Fleming H. Revell Co.,

From Independent Bohemia An Account of the Czecho-Slovak Struggle for Liberty by Nosek, Vladimír