〜ずくめ: 'Nothing But / All' (Meaning + Examples)
Describing something made up entirely of one thing
〜ずくめ says that everything about a situation, outfit, or stretch of time is the same single quality — no exceptions, no mixture.
今日はいいことずくめで、やったんは一日中ご機嫌だった。
きょうは いいことずくめで、やったんは いちにちじゅう ごきげんだった。
Today was nothing but good news, and Yattan was in a great mood all day.
いいことずくめ = every single thing that happened was good.
モチは黒ずくめの格好で現れた。
モチは くろずくめの かっこうで あらわれた。
Mochi showed up dressed entirely in black.
黒ずくめ = all in black, head to toe.
この計画はいいことずくめで、欠点が見当たらない。
このけいかくは いいことずくめで、けってんが みあたらない。
This plan is nothing but upsides — no flaws to be found.
Form: what it attaches to
〜ずくめ attaches directly to a limited set of nouns — most often colors, いいこと／悪いこと, and words like 規則 ("rules") or ごちそう ("feast") — and typically functions as a な-adjective-like modifier with の or で.
| Noun | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Color | 色 + ずくめ | 白ずくめの部屋 (a room entirely in white) |
| いいこと／悪いこと | ずくめ | いいことずくめの一週間 (a week of nothing but good news) |
| 規則／ルール | 規則ずくめ | 規則ずくめの職場 (a workplace buried in rules) |
やったんの部屋は規則ずくめで、おやつを勝手に食べてはいけない。
やったんの へやは きそくずくめで、おやつを かってに たべては いけない。
Yattan's room is nothing but rules — you can't just help yourself to snacks.
規則ずくめ can carry a negative, stifling nuance.
Don't confuse with だらけ
〜だらけ also attaches to nouns to mean "covered in / full of," but it's used for messy, unwanted accumulations — 泥だらけ ("covered in mud"), 間違いだらけ ("full of mistakes"). 〜ずくめ describes a uniform, total quality (often positive, like いいことずくめ) rather than a messy scattering, and it works with a much narrower set of nouns like colors and いいこと／悪いこと.
The short version
- 〜ずくめ = "nothing but / entirely / all" — a single quality or color with no exceptions.
- Attaches to: a limited set of nouns (colors, いいこと／悪いこと, 規則, ごちそう).
- Nuance/register: emphatic, often positive (いいことずくめ) but can imply oppressive uniformity (規則ずくめ).
- Don't confuse with: だらけ (messy, unwanted accumulation, e.g. 間違いだらけ).
Practice it
Choose ずくめ where the sentence describes something made up entirely of one quality or color.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
今日は＿＿＿で、本当にラッキーな一日だった。
Where 〜ずくめ fits
Shaky on this? Get these solid first
- Conditional 〜たら · N4 — 〜たら is Japanese's most flexible conditional: just add ら to the plain past. Learn the formation, the 'if/when' meaning, the discovery use, and how it beats ば/と for requests.
- 〜だらけ · N3 — 〜だらけ attaches to a noun to mean 'covered in' or 'full of' — usually an unpleasant excess all over: 泥だらけ, 間違いだらけ. Learn the form, the negative nuance, and だらけ vs まみれ.
- 〜てください · N5 — 〜てください is the standard way to politely ask someone to do something ('please do…'). Learn the formation, the negative 〜ないでください, softer variations, and see clear examples.
More N1 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜を控えて — 〜を控えて means 'with (an event) coming up soon,' marking an upcoming occasion — an exam, wedding, or election — that explains why someone is busy or acting a certain way now.
- 〜をもって — 〜をもって is a formal written expression meaning 'by means of X' or, with a time noun, 'as of / effective X' — standard in official announcements, contracts, ceremonies, and business closing notices.
- 〜始末だ — 〜始末だ attaches to a clause to mean 'it ended up in [this bad state],' summing up a chain of bad decisions or events with criticism or regret — 無駄遣いばかりして、ついに始末だ ('kept wasting money, and it ended up like this').
- 〜に対して — 〜に対して attaches to a noun and marks the target of an attitude or action ('toward'), sets up a contrast between two facts, or expresses a ratio ('per'). Before a following noun it becomes に対する.
- 〜といえども — 〜といえども attaches to a noun or plain form to mean 'even though / even if X' — 専門家といえども、すべてを知っているわけではない. Formal and literary, it concedes a status before stating a limit or exception to it.
- 〜とはいえ — 〜とはいえ is a formal 'although / that said' — it concedes a point just stated, then adds a contrasting fact that still holds despite it. Common in writing and formal speech to soften a contradiction.