Unpräzisen

Unpräzisen is an inflected form of the German adjective unpräzise, meaning imprecise or lacking precision. The term is used to describe statements, measurements, methods, or descriptions that do not meet a required standard of exactness. The corresponding noun is die Unpräzision.

Etymology: unpräzise derives from präzise, which in turn comes from French précis (exact) and ultimately from Latin precisus, meaning cut or exact. The prefix un- negates the sense of precision.

Usage: In German, unpräzise is common in scientific, technical, and journalistic language. It signals insufficient specificity or accuracy and is often contrasted with präzise or genau. It can apply to language, procedures, instruments, or data.

Nuance: Unpräzise emphasizes vagueness or inadequate definition, whereas ungenau or ungefähre may refer more generally to approximate results. The choice between terms depends on whether the focus is on lack of detail, broad estimates, or measurement accuracy.

Examples:

- Die unpräzisen Formulierungen im Bericht erschweren die Reproduzierbarkeit.

- Die unpräzisen Messungen führten zu unsicheren Ergebnissen.

- In der Studie wurden unpräzise Schlussfolgerungen gezogen.

Noun form: Die Unpräzision bezeichnet den Mangel an Genauigkeit oder Klarheit. Synonyme und verwandte Begriffe sind Präzision, Genauigkeit und Ungenauigkeit.