Mieleistään

Mieleistään is a Finnish expression used to indicate that something is done or judged according to a person’s own preferences or judgment. The phrase roughly translates to “to one’s liking” or “as one pleases,” and it signals subjectivity in evaluative statements or discretionary decisions.

Etiology and form: The term derives from mieli (mind, will, liking) and a reflexive possessive suffix that marks ownership by the subject. It is closely related to mielestään, which means “in one’s own opinion.” In standard Finnish, mielestään is more common, while mieleistään appears mainly in older texts, regional speech, or certain dialects.

Usage: Mieleistään functions as an adverbial modifier that frames what follows as reflecting personal taste or preference rather than an objective standard. It can appear in discussions of choices, evaluations, or preferences. The tone is subjective and can carry evaluative nuance; in many contexts, authors prefer more common formulations such as mielestään to convey a similar idea.

Variants and register: In contemporary usage, mielestään is the prevailing form for “in one’s own opinion.” Mieleistään tends to be found in historical writing or regional speech and is less common in modern everyday language. Some writers may use it to evoke a particular stylistic or archaizing effect.

See also: Mieli, Mielestään, Mielellään, Mieleinen.