Kiiltävät

Kiiltävät is a Finnish word that appears as both a grammatical form of the adjective kiiltävä and as the third-person plural present form of the verb kiiltää. As an adjective form, kiiltävät is the plural (nominative) form used to agree with plural nouns, meaning "shiny" or "glossy" (for example, kiiltävät kengät — "shiny shoes"). As a verb form, kiiltävät translates as "they shine" or "they glisten" (for example, Kengät kiiltävät — "The shoes shine").

The word derives from the stem kiilt-, related to the noun kiilto ("gloss, shine") and the verb kiiltää ("to shine, to be glossy"). Usage depends on syntactic role: when modifying a noun it follows Finnish adjective agreement patterns; when functioning as a predicate it follows regular Finnish verb conjugation for third-person plural.

Pronunciation is roughly approximated in English as "kee-ilt-ah-vat." Common related forms include kiiltävä (singular adjective), kiiltää (infinitive verb), and kiilto (noun). Antonyms include kiiltämätön or himmeä, meaning dull or matte. The term is used in everyday descriptions of surfaces, materials and appearances as well as idiomatic expressions referring to brightness or polish.