〜だらけ: 'Covered In' / 'Full Of' (Meaning + Examples)
A messy excess, spread all over
〜だらけ says that something is covered with or full of a large, conspicuous quantity of the noun before it — the stuff spread across a surface or scattered everywhere. Crucially, it comes with a frown: だらけ pictures the excess as a bad thing, so it pairs with concrete unpleasantness (泥, 血, ほこり, ごみ) or abstract negatives (間違い, 借金, 傷), never a welcome abundance.
ヤッタンは公園で遊んで、泥だらけになった。
ヤッタンは こうえんで あそんで、どろだらけに なった。
Yattan played in the park and got covered in mud.
泥だらけ = covered all over in mud.
このレポートは間違いだらけだ。
この レポートは まちがいだらけだ。
This report is full of mistakes.
A negative judgment — too many errors.
弟の部屋はごみだらけで、足の踏み場もない。
おとうとの へやは ごみだらけで、あしの ふみばも ない。
My little brother's room is full of trash — there's nowhere to step.
Because the nuance is negative, don't reach for だらけ to praise a place. A garden full of flowers in a good way is 花でいっぱい, not 花だらけ — the latter sounds like an overgrown mess.
Clipping it onto a noun
Attach だらけ straight to a plain noun — no を, no が, nothing in between (泥だらけ, never 泥をだらけ). The whole unit then behaves like a noun or な-adjective:
| Use | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun + だらけ | 名詞 + だらけ | 血だらけ (covered in blood) |
| Before a noun | 〜だらけの + 名詞 | 間違いだらけのレポート |
| As a predicate | 〜だらけだ／です | 部屋はほこりだらけだ |
| "Become 〜" | 〜だらけになる | 泥だらけになった |
だらけ itself never conjugates — the noun carries any tense through だ/です/になる. The one attachment trap is the modifier form: to put it in front of a noun you need の (間違いだらけのレポート), not a bare 間違いだらけレポート.
Seeing it in the wild
先生の机は書類だらけで、どこに何があるか分からない。
せんせいの つくえは しょるいだらけで、どこに なにが あるか わからない。
The teacher's desk is buried in documents — you can't tell where anything is.
モチは買い物をしすぎて、借金だらけになってしまった。
モチは かいものを しすぎて、しゃっきんだらけに なって しまった。
Mochi shopped too much and ended up drowning in debt.
借金だらけ = full of debt.
転んでしまって、ひざが血だらけになった。
ころんで しまって、ひざが ちだらけに なった。
I fell down and my knee got covered in blood.
Scattered everywhere vs. coating a surface: だらけ or まみれ
だらけ and まみれ both say "a lot," but they picture it differently. まみれ is a sticky liquid or fine powder stuck to a surface — 汗まみれ ("drenched in sweat"), 油まみれ ("covered in oil"), ほこりまみれ — so it needs something that clings. だらけ is broader: a mess spread or scattered all over, and it happily takes countable things that まみれ rejects (傷だらけ ✓, not 傷まみれ; 間違いだらけ ✓, since 間違いまみれ is wrong — mistakes don't stick). That is also why 汗だらけ sounds off: sweat is a clinging liquid, so it wants 汗まみれ. With a substance like 泥 both are fine — 泥だらけ pictures mud in patches all over, 泥まみれ a clinging film caked on.
Everywhere vs. only: だらけ or ばかり
ばかり is about exclusivity, not messy coverage — "only / nothing but," as in 失敗ばかり ("nothing but failures"). It never pictures a substance spread over a surface, so it isn't a stylistic swap for だらけ; the two answer different questions ("how much, all over?" vs. "only this and nothing else?"). For the core "only" sense behind it, see 〜だけ.
The short version
- 〜だらけ = covered in / full of a large, conspicuous amount — usually negative.
- Attach straight to a noun; the unit acts like a noun/な-adjective: 〜だらけのN, 〜だらけだ, 〜だらけになる.
- まみれ = coated in a clinging liquid/powder (汗まみれ); ばかり = "nothing but."
- Don't use だらけ for a welcome abundance.
Practice it
Choose だらけ, まみれ, or ばかり for each sentence.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
彼の票決記録をたどると矛盾＿＿＿です。
Frequently asked questions
Is 〜だらけ always negative?
Almost always, yes. It pictures an unwelcome, messy excess: 間違いだらけ, ごみだらけ, 借金だらけ. For a positive 'full of,' use 〜でいっぱい instead (例: 花でいっぱいの庭).
What's the difference between だらけ and まみれ?
まみれ is for a sticky liquid or fine powder clinging to a surface (汗まみれ, 油まみれ). だらけ is broader — scattered or numerous things all over, including countable ones (間違いだらけ, 傷だらけ). With 泥 both work, but 汗だらけ is unnatural.
How do I connect だらけ to a noun?
Use の: 間違いだらけのレポート ('a report full of mistakes'). As a predicate, use だ/です: この部屋はほこりだらけだ.
Can I attach だらけ to a verb or adjective?
No — だらけ attaches only to nouns. Use a noun like 間違い or ごみ, not a verb. (For 'I keep doing only X,' you'd reach for a different pattern such as 〜てばかりいる.)
Where 〜だらけ fits
Don't confuse it with
- 〜ばかり · N4 — ばかり has two main N4 jobs: 'nothing but / only too much' (ゲームばかり) and 'just did' (来たばかり). Learn 〜てばかりいる and how 〜たばかり differs from 〜たところ and だけ.
- だけ · N5 — だけ means 'only' or 'just' — water だけ, one だけ, look だけ. Learn how to attach it to nouns, numbers, and verbs, what happens to を and が, and how it differs from しか〜ない.
More N3 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜ふりをする — 〜ふりをする means to pretend or act as if: 知らないふりをする ('pretend not to know'). Learn how to attach it to verbs, nouns, and adjectives, plus the 〜ふりをして variant.
- ふと — ふと is an adverb meaning 'suddenly' or 'by chance' — a thought, glance, or realization arises unbidden. Learn ふと思い出す/見る/気づく and how it differs from 急に.
- 〜がち vs 〜ぎみ — 〜がち = a frequent tendency ('tends to,' often undesirable); 〜ぎみ = a slight degree right now ('a bit,' '-ish'). Learn the formation, the nuance, and how to keep them apart.
- 〜がたい — 〜がたい attaches to a verb stem to mean 'hard to' — really 'almost impossible to.' Learn the formation, the abstract/formal nuance, and how it differs from 〜にくい.
- 〜代わりに — 〜代わりに has two senses: 'instead of / in place of' (砂糖の代わりにはちみつ) and 'in exchange for / to make up for' a trade-off (給料は高い代わりに仕事がきつい).
- 決して〜ない — 決して + a negative means 'never' or 'by no means' — a strong, emphatic denial or firm resolve. Learn the formation, the obligatory negative, and how it differs from めったに and 全然.