vaivihkaa

Finnish

Etymology

The initial vai- is probably from vaieta or vaiti, while vihkaa comes from the onomatopoeic verb vihkata (akin to vihistä).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑi̯ʋihkɑː/, [ˈʋɑ̝i̯ʋiçkɑ̝ː]
Rhymes: -ɑiʋihkɑː
Syllabification^(key): vai‧vih‧kaa

Adverb

vaivihkaa

secretly, unnoticed, stealthily, furtively (without drawing attention)
Kun luokka käveli kirkkoon, pojat livahtivat vaivihkaa jäätelöbaariin.
When the class was walking to the church, the boys slipped unnoticed into an ice cream parlor.

Derived terms

vaivihkainen

Further reading

“vaivihkaa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

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