atypische

Atypische is the inflected form of the German adjective atypisch, meaning not typical or deviating from the usual type. It is used to describe things that do not conform to a standard category or pattern. The root comes from Greek, with a- meaning not and typos meaning type or form.

In German grammar, atypisch follows the standard adjective inflection. The form atypische appears in feminine singular contexts (for example, die atypische Form) and in several plural contexts (for example, atypische Merkmale) depending on case and article. The full paradigm includes atypischer, atypisches, atypischen, and related forms for other genders and cases. The base form used in dictionaries is atypisch; the adverbial form is atypisch.

In practice, atypische is common in scientific and technical writing to label deviations from a norm. It is used across disciplines such as medicine (for example, atypische Pneumonie), biology (atypische Merkmale), psychology (atypische Verhaltensweisen), and statistics (atypische Verteilungen). The term often conveys a neutral or cautious tone, signaling deviation without value judgment.

Atypische contrasts with untypisch and with synonyms such as ungewöhnlich (unusual) or abweichend (deviant), though their nuances differ. Untypisch emphasizes a mismatch with an expected type, while ungewöhnlich or abweichend may carry broader or stronger connotations depending on context.

See also: atypisch, Atypie, abnormal, anomaly, deviation.