puutteellisen

Puutteellinen is a Finnish adjective meaning lacking, deficient, or incomplete. It is used to describe things that do not meet a required standard or are missing essential parts, such as information, documentation, or equipment. The sense can range from partial insufficiency to more serious deficiencies. For example, puutteellinen tieto means incomplete information, and puutteellinen raportti refers to an inadequate report. The form puutteellisen is the genitive singular of the adjective, used with a noun to express “of the deficient …” as in puutteellisen tiedon (of the deficient information).

Etymology and related forms: puutteellinen is derived from the noun puute, meaning deficiency or lack, with the suffix -ellinen, which forms adjectives indicating characteristic or quality. Related terms include puuttuva (absent) and puute (deficiency). The opposite concepts are täydellinen (complete) and riittävä (sufficient), depending on context.

Usage notes: Puutteellinen can describe tangible and abstract subjects—documents, data, procedures, or practices. In formal writing, it flags incompleteness or inadequacy and often signals that further work or clarification is needed. The adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case, with plural forms such as puutteelliset tiedot (deficient data).

See also: puute, täydellinen, puuttua (to be missing), riittävä. The term is common across journalism, research, law, and education to characterize partial or insufficient quality or completeness.