epämääräisillä

Epämääräisillä is the adessive plural form of the Finnish adjective epämääräinen, meaning undefined or indefinite. It is used to describe plural nouns in the adessive case and conveys a sense of vagueness or lack of specificity about what is being discussed.

In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case. The form epämääräisillä thus appears with plural nouns in the adessive, for example epämääräisillä perusteilla (on indefinite grounds), epämääräisillä alueilla (in undefined areas), or epämääräisillä termeillä (using vague terms). The phrase is common in descriptive or analytical prose, policy discussions, and academic writing where precision is intentionally limited or where the speaker intends to emphasize uncertainty or generality.

Usage and nuance: epämääräisillä suggests that the characteristics, bases, or entities referenced are not clearly defined. It often appears when the writer wants to avoid committing to specific details or when deciding to discuss a phenomenon at a higher, more generalized level.

Related forms include epämääräinen (singular, indefinite/undefined), epämääräisiä (partitive plural), and adverbial epämääräisesti. The word is part of everyday Finnish grammar, though its most natural or frequent appearance is in formal or analytical contexts where indefiniteness is being discussed.