Vahva

Vahva is a Finnish adjective meaning strong, powerful, or durable. It is used to describe physical strength, sturdy objects, and figurative strength such as a convincing argument, a solid plan, or a resilient character.

Grammatically, vahva is a regular Finnish inflecting adjective. In the singular, the forms are nominative vahva, genitive vahvan, and partitive vahvaa. In the plural, the forms are nominative vahvat, genitive vahvojen, and partitive vahvoja. The common comparative form is vahvempi, and the superlative is vahvin in the singular and vahvimmat in the plural. The adverbial form is vahvasti, meaning “strongly.”

Vahva has related nouns and verbs, including vahvuus (strength) and vahvistaa (to strengthen). The root vah- appears in many compound terms, such as vahva talo (a strong or sturdy house) or vahva argumentti (a strong argument), illustrating its broad semantic range across physical, social, and intellectual contexts.

Etymology-wise, vahva is a native Finnish word and forms part of core vocabulary. It functions across registers—from everyday speech to media and literature—often serving as a baseline descriptor for resilience, reliability, and potency.