Epätoivottavaa

Epätoivottavaa is a Finnish adjective meaning undesired, not desirable, or unwelcome. It is formed with the prefix epämä? No, with epä- meaning "not" and the stem toivottava, which denotes something that should be desired or hoped for. The word is used to describe actions, practices, outcomes, or situations that are judged as unfavourable or inappropriate.

Usage of epätoivottavaa is typically before a noun, as in epätoivottava käytäntö (an undesirable practice) or epätoivottava ratkaisu (an undesirable solution). In predicative position, it can appear as Käytäntö on epätoivottava. The partitive form epätoivottavaa is used in constructions requiring the partitive, for example epätoivottavaa kehitystä paljastui keskustelussa (unwelcome development was revealed in the discussion).

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from toivo, meaning hope, combined with the -ttava participial suffix to form toivottava (desirable). The prefix epäs- yields epätoivottava. The noun form epätoivottavuus denotes the concept of undesirability.

See also and nuance: Common synonyms in formal or technical language include epäedullinen (unfavorable) and haitallinen (harmful), though those terms have somewhat different shades. Epätoivottavaa tends to appear in formal writing, policy analyses, ethics discussions, and academic contexts, whereas everyday Finnish often favors more plain expressions.

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