Eriarvoinen

Eriarvoinen is a Finnish adjective meaning not equal or dissimilar in value, status, or quality. It is used to describe differences between two or more items, groups, or outcomes, and is common in both everyday language and scholarly writing when discussing disparities or unevenness.

The word is formed from eri- meaning "different" and arvoinen meaning "worthy" or "valuable"; literally "not equally valuable." The related noun eriarvoisuus denotes inequality or disparity. In Finnish grammar, eriarvoinen inflects for number and case (for example eriarvoinen, eriarvoisia, eriarvoisen).

In practice, eriarvoinen is used in contexts such as economics, education, and social policy to describe uneven distributions or outcomes. Examples include eriarvoinen tulonjako (unequal income distribution) and eriarvoiset oppimistulokset (disparate learning outcomes) between groups.

See also eriarvoisuus, epätasaisuus, epäoikeudenmukaisuus.