Karkeapintainen

Karkeapintainen is a Finnish adjective meaning rough-textured or rough-surfaced. It is used to describe surfaces that are uneven, coarse, or not smooth to the touch, such as certain rocks, coatings, fabrics, or manufactured finishes.

Etymology and form: The word is formed from the root karkea meaning rough, combined with pinta meaning surface, and the suffix -inen which turns the stem into an adjective. The base noun karkeapinta refers to a rough surface, while karkeapintainen describes the attribute.

Usage and context: Karkeapintainen is common in everyday Finnish to describe non-smooth surfaces. In technical contexts, it may appear in geology, materials science, engineering, and product descriptions to contrast with sileäpintainen (smooth-faced) surfaces. The term can be used in phrases such as karkeapintainen kivi (rough-textured stone) or karkeapintainen pinta (rough surface). Related terms include karkeapintaisuus (roughness) and adverbial forms such as karkeapintaisesti (roughly, in a rough manner).

Notes: The word is primarily descriptive and does not imply a qualitative judgment beyond texture. Depending on context, a rough surface can be intentional (for grip or adhesion) or incidental (manufacturing variance). In Finnish, many compounds with pinta and -inen follow the same pattern, making karkeapintainen part of a broader family of texture-related adjectives.