～まみれ — Covered All Over
Attaches to a noun to say something is completely covered or smeared with an unpleasant, dirty substance such as dust, mud, blood, sweat, or oil. It gives a vivid, often negative image of being coated all over. Also used figuratively with things like debt (借金まみれ).
Structure
[Noun (usually dirty/unpleasant)] + まみれ
Examples
子供たちは泥まみれになって遊んでいた。
Kodomotachi wa doro mamire ni natte asonde ita.
The children were playing, covered all over in mud.
まみれ shows the children were completely coated with mud.
作業のあと、彼の顔は汗まみれだった。
Sagyō no ato, kare no kao wa ase mamire datta.
After the work, his face was drenched in sweat.
まみれ describes the face fully covered with sweat.
その会社は借金まみれで倒産した。
Sono kaisha wa shakkin mamire de tōsan shita.
That company went bankrupt, buried in debt.
まみれ is used figuratively here to show the company was overwhelmed by debt.
• Register: neutral; vivid and often negative. • Pairs with dirty/liquid substances: 泥, 血, 汗, 油, ほこり. • Figurative uses include 借金まみれ (drowning in debt).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～まみれ is tested against.
vs ～だらけ
だらけ means 'full of / lots of' (mistakes, people, dust) even when not physically coating; まみれ specifically means covered/smeared all over with a substance.
vs ～ずくめ
ずくめ means 'entirely / nothing but' (often positive, e.g. 黒ずくめ, いいことずくめ); まみれ implies being dirtied by a substance.
More expressions
Study Japanese grammar on LenGaki
Everything on this page, free to browse
- 7,788 JLPT vocabulary words, N5 through N1, with readings and audio
- 2,057 kanji with on'yomi, kun'yomi and stroke-order practice
- 444 grammar points with examples and commonly-confused comparisons
- Full-length N5 and N4 mock exams, timed, with real listening audio
Get the Android app