Häviöllisessä

Häviöllisessä is the inessive singular form of the Finnish adjective häviöllinen, meaning loss-making or in a loss. The term is used to describe financial or economic situations where outcomes are negative, such as companies, municipalities, projects, or budgets. In standard usage it accompanies nouns in the inessive case, for example häviöllisessä tilassa (in a loss-making state) or häviöllisissä tiloissa (in loss-making conditions). The phrase is common in financial reporting, business journalism, and economic analysis.

The adjective häviöllinen derives from the noun häviö (loss). The form häviöllinen is neutral and often contrasts with voitollinen (profitable) or tappiollinen (loss-making). In practice, tappiollinen is more common in everyday speech, while häviöllinen tends to carry a more formal or technical nuance. The inflected form häviöllisessä is used to describe a specific state, with other case endings as needed, e.g., häviöllisessä tilassa, häviöllisissä tiloissa (in loss-making conditions). This phrasing emphasizes ongoing financial underperformance rather than a single incident.

Usage notes: The term signals negative financial performance and is typical in annual reports, market analyses, and press releases. It does not denote a one-off loss but a state that may be temporary or structural, depending on context. Related terms include tappio (loss) and tappiollisuus (loss-making nature). The word’s formal tone makes it more common in written sources than in casual conversation.

Examples: Yritys on häviöllisessä tilassa viimeisen tilikauden aikana. Kunnan talous on ollut häviöllisessä tilassa useiden vuosien ajan.