ylistävä

Ylistävä is a Finnish term formed from the verb ylistää, meaning to praise. As an adjective and present active participle, ylistävä describes something that expresses praise or laudation. It is commonly used to characterize language, tone, or rhetoric that is praising in nature.

In usage, ylistävä can function attributively before a noun, as in a ylistävä puhe (a praising speech) or ylistävä kirjoitus (a laudatory article), and predicatively in sentences like Puhe oli ylistävä (The speech was laudatory). The form is flexible and agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case, as is typical for Finnish participles used as adjectives.

Etymology and related forms: ylistävä stems from the verb ylistää, “to praise,” with the present active participle suffix -vä. The related noun form is ylistys, which means praise or lauding, and it is often used in discussions of rhetoric, literary analysis, or communication where praising language is being described.

Usage notes: ylistävä carries a laudatory or positive connotation and is most common in formal or analytical contexts, such as literary critique, media analysis, or discourse on rhetoric. In everyday, neutral reporting, other terms like myönteinen or kehuva might be used depending on nuance. While closely related to concepts of praise, ylistävä emphasizes the act or style of praising rather than the subject’s mere expression of goodwill.

See also: ylistys (praise, laudation); kehu (compliment).