hälyttävän

hälyttävän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective hälyttävä, meaning alarming, disturbing, or attention-grabbing. The adjective is formed from the verb hälyttää (to alarm, to alert) and the related noun hälytys (alarm). In Finnish, adjectives are declined for case and number, so hälyttävä appears as hälyttävän in the genitive singular when it modifies a noun in the genitive, for example hälyttavan äänen (the source of the alarming sound).

In practical use, hälyttävän is used to describe something that provokes alarm or draws strong attention. It is typically placed before the noun it modifies, and its form changes according to the noun’s case. The genitive singular form hälyttavan is common in written and spoken Finnish when the noun that the adjective describes is in the genitive, as in phrases like hälyttavan äänen lähde (the source of the alarming sound) or hälyttavan vaaran tilanne (the situation of an alarming danger).

The base form hälyttävä is the present participle-style adjective, derived from hälyttää and hälytys. Related forms include hälyttävä, hälyttävän, hälyttävää, and plural forms such as hälyttävät (alarming, plural) and hälyttävien (genitive plural). Adverbs related to the concept are formed with typical Finnish patterns, but the adjective itself remains primarily descriptive.

Etymology traces hälyttävä to the verb hälyttää, which means to alarm, alert, or signal danger, linked to the noun hälytys, meaning alarm or alert. The term is used across journalism, fiction, and formal writing to characterize events, signals, or conditions that provoke concern or require attention, without carrying a value judgment beyond the sense of risk or importance.