ungenauen

Ungenauen is the inflected form of the German adjective ungenau, meaning imprecise or inaccurate. It is used to describe statements, data, measurements or representations that lack precision or reliability. The form ungenau itself conveys the core meaning, while ungenauen appears in plural contexts or in certain cases depending on the surrounding article and article-grammatical rules.

In German grammar, ungenau follows standard adjective declension rules. After a definite article, the ending -en is used in the plural: die ungenauen Daten, die ungenauen Messungen. In the dative plural this form also appears: mit den ungenauen Messungen. The singular forms differ (eg, eine ungenaue Aussage, der ungenaue Bericht), but ungenauen is specifically the plural form and the dative plural form with definite or certain mixed declensions.

The term is common in scientific, journalistic and everyday language, signaling that conclusions, figures or assertions should be treated with caution because they do not meet a standard of precision. It can denote measurement error, incomplete information, or subjective interpretation, and is often paired with verbs of assessment or opinion.

Examples include: Die ungenauen Daten lassen die Ergebnisse zweifelhaft erscheinen. Die ungenauen Messungen wurden erneut überprüft. In sachlicher Berichterstattung dient die Einordnung als ungenau dazu, Transparenz über Unsicherheiten zu schaffen und Fehlinterpretationen zu vermeiden.

Etymology: ungenau derives from un- (negation) + genau (precise). The form ungenauen reflects typical German adjective inflection in plural contexts. See also Genauigkeit and Präzision.