doorgezakte

Doorgezakte is a Dutch adjective used to describe surfaces, structures, or objects that have sagged, sunk, or settled under weight or after subsidence. The form doorgezakte is the attributive or predicative form of the past participle doorgezakt, which itself comes from the verb zakken (to sink) with the prefix door-, conveying the sense of sinking through or beneath.

In practical use, doorgezakte describes concrete, floors, roads, furniture, or ground that no longer sits level or firm. Examples include a doorggezakte vloer (sagging floor), a doorggezakte weg (sunken road), or a doorggezakte bank (saggy sofa). The term is common in everyday language as well as in engineering, construction, and real estate contexts, where it often signals a need for inspection, repair, or remedial work due to structural movement, moisture, poor foundation, or long-term loading.

Etymologically, doorgezakte is built from the prefix door- (through, across) combined with gezakt (the past participle of zakken, to sink). This formation highlights the notion that the sinking or sagging has affected the object completely or across its extent. The term is typically used in Dutch and may be translated as “sunken,” “sagged,” or “subsided” depending on context, with gezakt or verzakt often serving as more general equivalents in other contexts.

Doorgezakte is predominantly a descriptive term rather than a formal technical designation; it is widely understood in Dutch to convey visible or measurable deformation resulting from weight, moisture change, or ground movement.