kompromittierte

Kompromittierte is the simple past tense form (Präteritum) of the German verb kompromittieren. The verb means to put someone or something at risk, to damage integrity or trust, or to reveal information in a way that undermines a position, security, or reputation. In narrative or formal reporting, kompromittierte describes an action completed in the past, often in the sense of causing a failure, breach, or loss of trust.

The term is used across several domains. In cybersecurity, a system or account may be described as kompromittiert when unauthorized access or data leakage has occurred. In politics, business, or journalism, actions that undermine credibility or ethical standing can be characterized as kompromittierend, with related constructions such as kompromittierte Informationen or kompromittierte Beweise in analytic or reporting contexts. Grammatically, kompromittierte is the Präteritum form for ich, er, sie, es and the sentence structure is often [subject] + kompromittierte + [direct object or clause]. The past participle form is kompromittiert, which functions as a passive descriptor or as the predicate in perfect tenses, e.g., Die Verbindung wurde kompromittiert.

Etymology and usage notes: the verb is a loanword from French, via German usage, rooted in the sense of jeopardizing or entangling someone or something. It is closely related in meaning to words like gefährden, schädigen, or bloßstellen. In everyday German, kompromittieren is common in technical, journalistic, and legal-language registers, while less formal speech might substitute with more everyday terms for “breach” or “jeopardize.”