Ylivoimaa

Ylivoimaa is a Finnish noun meaning dominance, superiority or overwhelming force. It derives from the compound yl(i) (over, beyond) + voima (force, power) and is used to describe a situation in which one party has a clear and decisive advantage over another. The word emphasizes comparative strength or influence rather than absolute strength.

In grammatical terms, "ylivoimaa" is the partitive singular form of ylivoima; the nominative form is ylivoima. The adjective ylivoimainen describes something characterized by dominance or being overwhelmingly superior. The term appears frequently in spoken and written Finnish, both in literal contexts (e.g., military, technical descriptions of force) and figurative ones (e.g., market dominance, artistic superiority).

A common and widely recognized use of the word is in sports commentary, especially ice hockey: ylivoima refers to a power play situation in which one team has more players on the ice due to an opponent’s penalty, and ylivoimaa describes the attacking team’s advantage. Beyond sports, ylivoimaa is used in journalism, business and everyday speech to characterize decisive leads, unbalanced contests or clear strategic advantages. Its connotations can be neutral, factual or evaluative depending on context.