だらけ

だらけ attaches to nouns and expresses that something is full of or covered with that thing. It almost always carries a negative or undesirable connotation, suggesting that the thing in question is present in an excessive, messy, or unwelcome amount.

Structure

Noun + だらけ

It can be used as a predicate with だ or です, or it can modify another noun using の.

Negative nuance

だらけ is used with things considered unpleasant or undesirable – dirt, mistakes, wounds, lies, debt, etc. It implies the speaker views the situation negatively.

だらけ vs. まみれ vs. ずくめ

• だらけ focuses on something being full of undesirable things, either physically covering a surface or present in large quantities (e.g. ほこりだらけ, まちがい間違いだらけ).
• まみれ means physically smeared or covered in a substance and is limited to tangible things like blood, sweat, or mud (e.g. ちまみれ血まみれ, あせまみれ汗まみれ).
• ずくめ means entirely/nothing but and can be used with positive or neutral things (e.g. くろずくめ黒ずくめ, いいことずくめ).

Common collocations

だらけ frequently appears with words like きず傷 (scratches/wounds), まちがい間違い (mistakes), ほこり (dust), どろ泥 (mud), ち血 (blood), うそ嘘 (lies), and ごみゴミ (trash).