Unzuverlässiges

Unzuverlässiges is an inflected form of the German adjective unzuverlässig, meaning not trustworthy or lacking reliability. The form is most commonly used attributively before a neuter noun (for example: ein unzuverlässiges System). In addition to its attributive use, the related nominal form Unzuverlässigkeit refers to unreliability as a property or concept, and the noun das Unzuverlässige can denote a thing or behavior that is unreliable when used as a nominalized phrase.

Morphology and usage notes

In German, unzuverlässig is declined to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes. The neuter singular inflected form unzuverlässiges is used after an indefinite article or without an article in the nominative or accusative case (such as ein unzuverlässiges Verhalten or unzuverlässiges Verhalten). When the word is nominalized, it is capitalized as Unzuverlässigkeit (the abstract quality) or as das Unzuverlässige (a specific unreliable thing or behavior). The term is widely used in technical, scientific, journalistic, and everyday language to describe objects, systems, data, or actions that are inconsistent, erratic, or prone to failure.

Meaning and nuance

Unzuverlässiges conveys a judgment about reliability, emphasizing inconsistency, unpredictability, or insufficient trustworthiness. It can refer to faulty equipment, erroneous results, flawed processes, or unreliable information. The term is neutral in some contexts, but it can carry negative connotations when reliability is important for safety, accuracy, or decision-making.

Related terms

Antonym: zuverlässig; noun form: Zuverlässigkeit or Unzuverlässigkeit. Related concepts appear in discussions of epistemology, quality control, risk assessment, and engineering.

Examples

- Das unzuverlässige Messinstrument liefert inkonsistente Werte.

- Wir ersetzen das unzuverlässige System durch eine stabilere Lösung.