Negative Emotions – Kielteiset Tunteet
In this article, you can find adjectives, nouns and verbs related to negative emotions. There are plenty of positive emotions too though! This article has some overlapping with other articles. I will link to those in the related sections.
I have chosen to present these words related to feelings by wordtype. However, you will notice that verbs, nouns and adjectives can look very similar. For example, the verb pettyä (to get disappointed) is related to the noun pettymys (disappointment) and the adjective pettynyt (disappointed).
- Nouns
- Adjectives
- Verbs
- Partitive verbs which express negative emotions
- Verbs which express the onset of an emotion
- Verbs which express causing negative emotions
- Other feeling verbs – Tunnekausatiiviverbejä
- Adverbs
- Sayings related to negative emotions
1. Nouns – Substantiiveja
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| aggressio | aggression |
| ahdistus | anxiety |
| ahneus | greed |
| alakuloisuus | dejection |
| apatia | apathy |
| epätoivo | despair |
| epävarmuus | uncertainty |
| halveksunta | contempt |
| huoli | worry |
| häpeä | shame |
| kateellisuus | envy |
| katkeruus | bitterness |
| katumus | regret |
| kauhu | horror |
| kiukku | crossness |
| kärsimättömyys | impatience |
| kärttyisyys | testiness |
| levottomuus | restlessness |
| loukkaus | insult |
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| masennus | depression |
| mustasukkaisuus | jealousy |
| nolous | embarrassment |
| nöyryytys | humiliation |
| paheksunta | resentment |
| paniikki | panic |
| pelko | fear |
| pettymys | disappointment |
| suru | grief |
| surullisuus | sadness |
| suuttumus | indignation |
| synkkyys | melancholy |
| syyllisyys | guilt |
| tyytymättömyys | dissatisfaction |
| yksinäisyys | loneliness |
| viha | hate |
| ärsytys | irritation |
2. Adjectives – Adjektiiveja
If you want to express your emotions using an adjective, this can be done with a simple complement sentence: Olen ahdistunut ja masentunut (I’m anxious and depressed).
A more complicated alternative way of phrasing this would be to use the phrase “tuntea olonsa -ksi“. For example, “Hän tunsi olonsa kiusaantuneeksi” means “He/she felt embarrassed”. Finnish doesn’t have a straight-forward way to say “I feel sad/angry/annoyed”. You will either say “I am sad/angry/annoyed”, or use this more complicated expression: “Tunnen oloni surulliseksi/vihaiseksi/ärsyyntyneeksi“. It’s hard to translate it literally, but maybe “I feel my condition as sad” is an okay literal translation.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| aggressiivinen | aggressive |
| ahdistunut | anxious |
| ahne | greedy |
| alakuloinen | dejected |
| apea | glum |
| epäluuloinen | distrustful |
| epätoivoinen | desperate |
| epävarma | uncertain |
| halveksiva | contemptuous |
| harmistunut | annoyed, upset |
| huolestunut | worried |
| hämmentynyt | bewildered |
| ikävystynyt | bored |
| kateellinen | envious |
| katkera | bitter |
| katuvainen | regretful |
| kauhuissaan | horrified |
| kiukkuinen | peeved |
| kyllästynyt | bored |
| kyyninen | cynical |
| kärsimätön | impatient |
| kärsivä | suffering |
| kärttyinen | bad-tempered |
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| levoton | restless |
| loukkaantunut | offended |
| masentunut | depressed |
| mustasukkainen | jealous |
| nolostunut | embarrassed |
| nöyryytetty | humiliated |
| paheksuva | resentful |
| pelästynyt | frightened |
| pettynyt | disappointed |
| surullinen | sad |
| suuttunut | angry, indignant |
| synkkä | melancholic |
| turhautunut | frustrated |
| tyrmistynyt | baffled |
| tyytymätön | dissatisfied |
| yksinäinen | lonely |
| vihainen | angry |
| ärsyyntynyt | displeased |
| ärtynyt | cross, vexed |
| ärtyisä | irritable |
3. Verbs
3.1. Partitive verbs which express negative emotions
You can read more about partitive verbs in general here.
| Finnish | English | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| halveksia | to despise | Minä halveksin kaikkia. | I despise everyone. |
| inhota | to detest, loathe | Minä inhoan naapuriani. | I detest my neighbor. |
| ikävöidä | to long for | Minä ikävöin isääni. | I miss my father. |
| kadehtia | to envy | Minä kadehdin teitä. | I envy you (plural). |
| kaivata | to miss | Minä kaipaan sukulaisiani. | I miss my relatives. |
| katua | to regret | Minä kaduin päätöstäni. | I regretted my decision. |
| murehtia | to grieve, worry | Minä murehdin kohtaloani. | I fretted over my fate. |
| paheksua | to disapprove | Minä paheksun tilannetta. | I disapprove of the situation. |
| pelätä | to fear | Minä pelkään koiria. | I’m afraid of dogs. |
| vihata | to hate | Minä vihaan valehtelijoita. | I hate liars. |
3.2. Verbs which express the onset of an emotion
The verbs in the following table express the onset of an emotion; you’re starting to feel a certain way. For example, the verb pelästyä is related to pelätä “to be afraid”, but it expresses the beginning of the emotion: you startle, ie. start being afraid.
I strongly recommend you also take a look at the article that explains emotive causative verbs.
| Finnish | English | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| hermostua | to get nervous | Minä hermostun herkästi. | I get nervous easily. |
| huolestua | to start worrying | Minä huolestuin terveydestäni. | I got worried about my health. |
| hämmentyä | to get confused | Hämmennyin kysymyksestä. | I got confused by the question. |
| katkeroitua | to become bitter | Katkeroiduin ja syytin häntä. | I became bitter and blamed him. |
| kiusaantua | to get embarrassed | Minä kiusaannun huomiosta. | I get embarrassed by the attention. |
| kyynistyä | to become jaded | Kyynistyin vuosien mittaan. | I became jaded over the years. |
| lamaantua | to be paralyzed | Minä lamaannuin pelosta. | I got paralyzed by fear. |
| loukkaantua | to get offended | Minä loukkaannuin sanoistasi. | I got offended by your words. |
| nolostua | to get embarrassed | Minä nolostuin paljastuksesta. | I was embarrassed by the revelation. |
| pelästyä | to become startled | Minä pelästyn helposti. | I’m easily startled. |
| raivostua | to lose temper | Minä raivostuin hänelle. | I lost my temper with him. |
| stressaantua | to become stressed | Minä stressaannun työni takia. | I get stressed because of my work. |
| suuttua | to get mad | Minä suutuin hänelle. | I got mad at him. |
| turhautua | to get frustrated | Minä turhauduin byrokratiaan. | I got frustrated with the bureaucracy. |
| vihastua | to become angry | Minä vihastuin poikiin. | I got angry at the boys. |
| ärsyyntyä | to become irritated | Minä ärsyynnyn helposti. | I get irritated easily. |
3.3. Verbs which express causing negative emotions
There are also many verbs that express a person or thing causing the negative emotion. For example, someone can make you afraid (pelästyttää) or embarrass you (nolata).
| Finnish | English | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| hämmentää | to bewilder | Se hämmentää häntä yhä. | It still confuses him. |
| kiusata | to bully | Hän kiusasi luokkakaveriaan. | He bullied his classmate. |
| loukata | to wound | Hän loukkasi tunteitani. | He hurt my feelings. |
| loukata | to insult | Hän loukkasi minua. | He insulted me. |
| pelästyttää | to frighten | Hän pelästytti minut. | He frightened me. |
| pettää | to let down | Hän petti äitinsä odotukset. | He disappointed his mother. |
| provosoida | to provoke | Hän yrittää aina provosoida minua. | He’s always trying to provoke me. |
| nolata | to embarrass | Hän nolasi minut. | He embarrassed me. |
| nöyryyttää | to humiliate | Hän nöyryyttää lastaan. | He humiliates his child. |
| ahdistella | to harass | Hän ahdistelee naisia. | He harasses women. |
| syyttää | to blame | Hän aina syyttää minua. | He always blames me. |
| kohdella | to treat | Hän kohtelee lapsiaan huonosti. | He treats his children badly. |
| pilkata | to mock | Hän pilkkaa asioita, joita rakastan. | He mocks the things I love. |
| härnätä | to taunt | Hän härnää vastustajaansa. | He taunts his opponent. |
3.4. Other feeling verbs – Tunnekausatiiviverbejä
A big group of verbs which express feelings are called tunnekausatiiviverbi in Finnish. I have an extensive article about those behind that link. The table below only contains the verbs without a context.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Minua ahdistaa. | I feel anxious. |
| Minua harmittaa. | I feel upset. |
| Minua hermostuttaa. | I feel nervous. |
| Minua hirvittää. | I feel dread. |
| Minua huolestuttaa. | I’m worried. |
| Minua hävettää myöntää se. | I’m ashamed to admit it. |
| Minua inhottaa sade. | I detest rain. |
| Minua itkettää. | I feel like crying. |
| Minua jännittää. | I feel excited. |
| Minua kaduttaa. | I feel regret. |
| Minua kammottaa. | I feel appalled. |
| Minua kauhistuttaa. | I feel horrified. |
| Minua kyllästyttää. | I feel fed up. |
| Minua masentaa. | I feel depressed. |
| Minua nolottaa. | I feel embarrassed. |
| Minua surettaa. | I feel saddened. |
| Minua suututtaa. | I feel angry. |
| Minua pelottaa. | I feel afraid. |
| Minua raivostuttaa. | I feel infuriated. |
| Minua vituttaa. | I feel pissed off. |
| Minua ärsyttää. | I feel annoyed. |
4. Adverbs – Adverbeja
The next table lists a small selection of adverbs that express negative feelings. Note how all of them end in -ssa and a possessive suffix.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Olen raivoissani. | I’m furious. |
| Olin murheissani. | I felt troubled. |
| Olen huolissani. | I’m worried. |
| Olen harmissani. | I’m annoyed, upset. |
| Olen kauhuissani. | I’m terrified. |
5. Sayings related to negative emotions
- “Hänellä on jotain hampaankolossa.”
Literally: She has something in the hole in a tooth.
Meaning: She’s annoyed with something. - “Maija on kuin kissa pistoksissa.”
Literally: Maija is like a cat in a shot.
Meaning: Maija is really restless. - “Mieheni on käärmeissään lapseni käytöksestä.”
Literally: My husband is in his snakes about the behavior of my child.
Meaning: My husband is angry about the behavior of my child. - “Älä heitä kirvestä kaivoon!”
Literally: Don’t throw the ax into the well!
Meaning: Don’t give up yet!
This is such a useful article, especially for improving expression of opinions, so thank you! Just to fill in my understanding, why is humiliated “nöyryyttänyt” (literally having humiliated) and not “nöyryytetty” (having been humiliated)? Or is it just how it is. Thank you in advance, and sorry for being pedantic, I just learn things more easily when I understand them thoroughly (not great at “accepting and memorising”).
Hey Joshua! I just took a fresh look at this article and realized that it’s not as useful as I intended. The idea was originally just to list as many words as possible related to negative feelings.
However, for many of the verbs in particular, not having a context or a full sentences makes their meaning and/or usage a little ambiguous. I’ve included both transitive and intransitive verbs, which makes it kind of hard to tell which ones refer to CAUSING an emotion and which ones are about FEELING the emotion.
This is less the case with the adjectives I listed, but nöyryyttänyt is one of the words where transitivity makes this word ambiguous when translated. You’re completely right in your assessment: nöyryytetty would be how you FEEL when someone “nöyryyttää” you. The word nöyryyttänyt expresses CAUSING the emotion.
A long reply, but I think you deserve it 🙂 I will be fixing this article today/tomorrow and I suggest you take another look at it once I’m done! Thank you so much for your comment! I don’t know if you’re aware of the point system, but I’m giving you three points for your contribution.
When I saw mustasukkainen, I thought of the Swedish word svartsjuk, which also means jealous but literally it can be translated as black sick. So I wondered if one is a calque of the other. However, according to wiktionary mustasukkainen actually means literally blacksocked and is a mistranslation of svartsjuka (plural adjective or noun jealousy). The Swedish word for sock is socka or strumpa so I wonder if sjuka and socka sound similar to Finns and hence that mistranslation? Moreover, there is also a Finnish word mustankipeä, which is an accurate calque.
You have such an interesting perspective on Finnish vocabulary 🙂