Epärehellisiä

Epärehellisiä is Finnish an adjective form meaning dishonest or untrustworthy, typically used to describe people or actions. It functions as a plural, partitive form when modifying plural nouns, for example epärehellisiä tekoja (dishonest acts) or epärehellisiä henkilöitä (dishonest people). The base form is epärehellinen, with related noun epärehellisyys meaning dishonesty or dishonorable conduct.

Etymology and nuance: the word is built from the negating prefix epä- attached to rehellinen (honest). Epärehellinen implies deliberate deception or unreliability, carrying a strong negative connotation. It is common in media, politics and everyday speech, where accusations of dishonesty are often framed with this term. While harsh, it remains a standard descriptor rather than a clinical label.

Grammar and usage: Finnish adjectives decline for number and case, so epärehellinen turns into epärehellinen (singular nominative), epärehelliset (plural nominative), epärehellisiä (plural partitive), epärehellisen (singular genitive), and so on. In practice, epärehellisiä usually appears with a plural noun in the partitive, as in epärehellisiä tekoja, or as a predicate adjective: Hän on epärehellinen. Related forms include the noun epärehellisyys (dishonesty) and the adverb epärehellisesti (dishonestly).

Examples:

- Hän teki epärehellisiä tekoja ja sai seurauksia.

- Epärehellisyys ei ole hyväksyttävää tässä yhteisössä.

- Hän kertoi epärehellisiä tarinoita vakuuttaakseen kuulijat.

Synonyms and antonyms: synonyms include vilpillinen and epäluotettava, while antonyms are rehellinen, vilpitön and luotettava. The choice of term depends on context and degree of accusation.

Overall, epärehellisiä functions as a versatile descriptor for dishonest people or acts, with clear negative connotations and frequent usage in public discourse.