fehlinterpretierte

Fehlinterpretierte is the past participle of the German verb fehlinterpretri­eren, used as an attributive adjective to describe something that has been interpreted incorrectly. In academic, journalistic, and public discourse, it is commonly employed to qualify statements, data, or conclusions that are based on a misreading or misassessment of information.

Etymology and usage notes: The prefix fehl- signals error or failure, while interpretieren means to interpret. As an adjective, fehlinterpretierte agrees with the noun it modifies, for example: eine fehlinterpretierte Aussage, fehlinterpretierte Daten, or fehlinterpretierte Ergebnisse. The related noun is Fehlinterpretation (the misinterpretation).

Contexts and implications: Fehlinterpretierte elements appear in discussions about science, history, statistics, and media reporting. They often point to underlying causes such as biased framing, insufficient context, methodological flaws, selective data presentation, or incorrect assumptions. The term emphasizes the interpretive error rather than the data itself.

Examples: Die Studie stützt ihre Schlüsse auf fehlinterpretierte Daten. Der Bericht enthält eine fehlinterpretierte Darstellung der Ergebnisse. In contrast, korrekt interpretierte Befunde would be based on robust methods and transparent reasoning.

See also: Fehlinterpretation, the noun for the misinterpretation, and related terms in English such as misinterpretation. The term fehlinterpretierte serves to label interpretations that are judged as faulty rather than to indict the data themselves.