unvollständlicher

Unvollständiger is a grammatically inflected form of the German adjective unvollständig, which means “not complete” or “incomplete.” It describes a noun and signals that some parts, information, or aspects are missing. As a word, it does not stand alone as a fixed lexical item; its form changes according to gender, number, and case and it is most common in attributive position before a noun.

In the masculine nominative singular, the form appears as unvollständiger, for example after an article: Ein unvollständiger Bericht or Der unvollständige Bericht. The feminine nominative singular is unvollständige; the neuter nominative singular is unvollständiges; and the plural is unvollständige. When the noun is not accompanied by a determiner, strong inflection yields unvollständiger Bericht for masculine nouns in the nominative singular. In predicative position after sein, bleiben, etc., the short form unvollständig is typically used (for example, Der Bericht ist unvollständig).

Usage contexts often involve description of data quality, research results, or historical sources, where incomplete information can affect interpretation. For instance: Ein unvollständiger Datensatz kann zu verzerrten Ergebnissen führen; Die Antworten waren unvollständig; Der Bericht ist unvollständig.

Etymology and related terms: unvollständig is formed from un- (negation) + vollständig (complete). Related words include Unvollständigkeit (the noun for incompleteness) and Vollständigkeit (completeness). The adjective can be contrasted with vollständig, which means complete, and with unvollkommen, which has a different nuance.