Keveä

Keveä is a Finnish adjective that describes something light in weight or easy to handle, and it is often used in both physical and figurative senses. In everyday language it can refer to objects, movements, or atmospheres that feel effortless, graceful, or unobtrusive. For example, keveä kengät or keveät asusteet convey that something is lightweight and comfortable to wear, while keveä liike or keveä askel suggests nimble, effortless movement. Metaphorically, keveä can describe approaches, solutions, or moods that are smooth, uncomplicated, or lighthearted, as in keveä ratkaisu, keveä ilme, or keveä mieli.

Nuances and usage

Keveä is often preferred when the speaker wants to emphasize ease, elegance, or lack of heaviness, as opposed to kevyt, which centers more on physical lightness or insubstantiality. Keveä can apply to tangible things (keveä rakennus, keveä kehonhallinta) as well as to abstract qualities (keveä tapa toimia, keveä tunnelma). It is common in both spoken Finnish and written prose, including journalism and literature, and it frequently collocates with nouns describing motion, form, or mood.

Related forms and variants

As an adjective, keveä inflects in typical Finnish patterns (for example, keveä, keveän, keveää; plural keveät). The adverbial form is keveästi, used to describe manner, such as liikkuu keveästi. Synonyms or near-synonyms include kevyt in some contexts, though kevyt stresses mere lack of weight rather than ease or elegance.

See also

Finnish adjectives describing weight and manner, such as kevyt and keveäisen kaltaiset expressions, are often explored in dictionaries and usage guides for nuance in descriptive language.