tuho

Tuho is a Finnish noun meaning destruction or ruin. It can refer to physical damage, such as the destruction of buildings, crops, or landscapes, as well as to non-physical forms of ruin, including financial collapse, social decay, or natural disasters. In everyday language and in formal writing, tuho appears in expressions like luonnon tuho (environmental destruction) or taloudellinen tuho (financial ruin).

The word has several common derivatives and related terms. Tuhoaminen denotes the act of destroying, tuhoutuminen the process of being destroyed, and tuhoisa or tuhoinen describe something that is destructive or disastrous. A related compound is tuhoeläin, a pest that causes damage. In usage, tuho can take on stronger connotations of scale or severity when paired with adjectives such as laaja (extensive), katastrofaalinen (catastrophic), or äärimmäinen (extreme).

Context and nuance are important for tuho. It is used across domains—from journalism and science to literature and everyday speech—to discuss events with damaging outcomes, ranging from accidents and conflicts to long-term environmental or economic harm. While neutral in itself, the term often signals significant impact, making it common in discussions of risk, prevention, and recovery.