まみれ

covered with, stained with, smeared with

AI-generated

Structure

[noun] + まみれ

Modifying a noun:

[noun] + まみれ + の／な + [noun]

Predicative:

[noun] + まみれ + だ／です

Note: Typically used with unpleasant/messy substances (血, 泥, 汗, 埃, etc.) or figurative negatives (借金).

Description

まみれ is a suffix that means "covered with", "smeared with", or "stained with" something unpleasant, dirty, or messy. It attaches directly to nouns and describes a state where someone or something is thoroughly coated or drenched in a substance.

Structure

Noun + まみれ

まみれ functions as a な-adjective when modifying a noun (まみれの or まみれな), and can also be used predicatively with だ/です.

。

A child covered in mud came home.

だっ。

His hands were covered in blood.

Key characteristics

まみれ is almost always used with unpleasant or messy substances. Common nouns that appear with まみれ include ち血 (blood), どろ泥 (mud), あせ汗 (sweat), ほこり埃 (dust), しゃっきん借金 (debt – used figuratively), and きず傷 (wounds/scratches). You would not use まみれ with pleasant things like flowers or light.

まみれ。

I want to escape a life drowning in debt.

Comparison with similar expressions

だらけ also means "covered with" or "full of" but has a broader range of use. だらけ can be used with both substances and countable things (e.g., まちがい間違いだらけ "full of mistakes"), whereas まみれ is limited to substances that physically (or metaphorically) coat a surface.
ぬれ塗れ (まみれ in kanji) is rarely written in kanji; hiragana is standard.
ずくめ means "entirely" or "nothing but" and is used for positive or neutral totality (e.g., くろずくめ黒ずくめ "all in black"), which is quite different from まみれ's negative connotation.

Usage notes

まみれ is commonly found in written language, literature, news reports, and dramatic speech. In everyday casual conversation, だらけ is often preferred for similar meanings.

Examples

。

I saw children playing, covered in mud.

。

A man covered in blood was taken to the hospital.

。

I put the sweat-soaked shirt in the washing machine.

ほこりまみれ埃まみれ。

I spent hours cleaning the dust-covered room.

、だっ。

After the match, the players were covered in mud.

まみれ、。

He is drowning in debt and struggling with monthly payments.

まみれ。

I rescued a stray cat covered in wounds.

あぶらまみれ油まみれ。

Please don't touch the door with oil-covered hands.

まみれ。

I'm tired of a life full of lies.

まみれ。

I carefully wiped off the camera that was covered in sand.

だっ。

The soldier who returned from the battlefield was covered in blood.

、。

Even though I was drenched in sweat, I kept running to the end.

ままに

まるっきり