tulinen

Tulinen is a Finnish adjective meaning fiery or intense, used for both literal heat and metaphorical force. It is formed from the noun tuli, fire, with the common suffix -nen, which yields an associative meaning such as fiery or blazing. The term can describe colors, tastes, emotions, and atmospheres.

In everyday use, tulinen can describe color as bright and striking, or evoke heat and energy in a scene or object. It also appears in culinary contexts to signal spiciness or heat, as in a tulinen maku or a very hot dish. When applied to people or moods, tulinen conveys passion, strong emotion, or a quick temper—an ardent or fiery temperament. In literature and media, the word often serves to heighten drama and intensity.

Semantically, tulinen is typically translated as fiery, scorching, or spicy, depending on context. It emphasizes vividness and force rather than merely physical temperature, though it can overlap with senses of heat. It is distinct from kuuma (hot in a physical sense) and palava (burning), which may be used for different nuances of heat.

There are no widely recognized proper nouns commonly associated with the word Tulinen. As an everyday adjective, it is understood across Finnish dialects, though its frequency varies by register and topic. See also: tuli; palava; kuuma; fiery.