maukas

Maukas is a Finnish adjective meaning delicious or tasty. It describes food, beverages, and sometimes aromas or textures, conveying a positive evaluation of flavor. The term is common in everyday speech as well as menus, reviews, and media.

In use, maukas typically precedes a noun in attributive noun phrases, such as maukas keitto (delicious soup) or maukas kahvi (tasty coffee). It can be intensified with adverbs like erittäin maukas (very tasty) or todella maukas (really tasty). The word is versatile and can refer to simple everyday dishes as well as more elaborate meals, depending on context and tone.

Compared with synonyms, herkullinen is often perceived as a more refined or gourmet description, while maukas emphasizes straightforward, hearty flavor. Like other Finnish adjectives, maukas agrees with the noun in number and case, though its basic meaning remains stable across contexts. The term is widely used in cooking instructions, restaurant menus, food criticism, and everyday conversation.

See also: Finnish language; Finnish cuisine; taste and aroma.