inaktuell

Inaktuell is a German adjective meaning not up-to-date or not current. It is formed by adding the negating prefix in- to aktuell, the word for current or up-to-date. The term signals that information, data, or a status has not been updated recently or is no longer valid.

The use of inaktuell is mainly found in technical, archival, and formal contexts such as information management, libraries, databases, and journalism. It qualifies data or entries as stale or outdated. In everyday language, speakers more commonly use veraltet or nicht mehr aktuell, while in metadata and content-management systems inaktuell may coexist with labels that indicate update status or revision history. The term often appears with phrases like inaktuelle Daten or inaktuelle Einträge.

Because Aktualität is valued in many domains, inaktuell can imply a temporary or pending state—information may be kept for reference but is not considered current. In metadata schemas and archival practices, marking an item as inaktuell helps distinguish between current and non-current records, though care is needed to avoid ambiguity with related terms such as veraltet (outdated) or überholt (obsolete).

Etymology: aktuell derives from the French and Latin roots related to current or present, with in- negating it to yield not current. This formation is typical for German adjectives indicating opposite state.

See also: aktuell, Aktualisierung, Aktualität, veraltet, nicht mehr aktuell.