unsachgemäße

Unsachgemäß is a German adjective meaning not in accordance with established rules, improper or inappropriate. It is used to describe actions, handling, usage, devices or procedures that fail to meet applicable standards, safety guidelines or contractual requirements. In everyday and technical language it appears in phrases such as unsachgemäße Verwendung, unsachgemäße Handhabung or unsachgemäße Montage, indicating that the described use or assembly is erroneous or unsafe.

Morphology and usage notes: The base form unsachgemäß is used attributively before nouns. The attributive endings depend on gender, number and case: for example, feminine singular nominative or accusative is unsachgemäße Verwendung, neuter singular can be ein unsachgemäßes Verfahren, and plural forms include unsachgemäße Verwendungen or unsachgemäße Handhabungen. Predicative usage is also possible: Es ist unsachgemäß. The adverbial form is unsachgemäß gehandhabt or unsachgemäß verwendet, depending on the construction.

Etymology: unsachgemäß is formed from sachgemäß (proper, in accordance with the rules) with the negating prefix un-, yielding not proper or inappropriate.

Context and usage: The term is common in safety, liability and consumer-protection contexts, where improper handling or use can lead to harm, damage or contractual consequences. It should be distinguished from unsachlich, which means not objective or biased, a different sense relating to argumentation rather than compliance with rules.

See also: sachgemäß, unsachgemäße Verwendung, unsachgemäße Handhabung, unsachgemäßes Verhalten. Synonyms include unangemessen, fehlerhaft, mangelhaft; antonyms include sachgerecht, ordnungsgemäß.