mielinen

Mielinen is a Finnish adjective meaning ill-tempered or in a bad mood. It describes someone who is irritable, easily annoyed, or sulky, rather than simply angry. The nuance often implies a habitual temperament as well as a momentary mood.

The word derives from mieli, meaning mind, mood, or inclination, with the derivational suffix -nen. In usage, mielinen is typically applied to people, especially when characterizing temperament. It can be used metaphorically, but it is most common in referring to human behavior or disposition.

Grammatically, mielinen follows the patterns of Finnish adjectives and inflects for number and case. It has forms for singular and plural, and for various cases, just like other adjectives in Finnish. Comparative and superlative forms are formed in the standard way for adjectives, though the exact endings depend on the surrounding syntactic structure and normal declension rules.

In meaning, mielinen is distinct from vihainen (angry). Mielinen conveys a sour or irritable mood and can imply a more enduring disposition, whereas vihainen emphasizes a sharper emotional outburst. The term is neutral and descriptive rather than an outright insult, and it appears in everyday language, literary prose, and descriptive characterizations.