Grammar › Tendency & Manner
だらけ — “covered in, full of” (too much of something bad)
Says something is covered or overrun with an unwanted thing
だらけ attaches directly to a noun to say a surface or situation is saturated with it — almost always something messy, wrong, or undesirable: 傷だらけ (covered in scratches), 間違いだらけ (full of mistakes). It's stronger and more visual than plain 多い.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Noun + だらけ | 泥だらけの服 — clothes covered in mud |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| この作文は間違いだらけです。 | このさくぶんはまちがいだらけです。 konosakubunhamachigaidarakedesu。 | This essay is full of mistakes. |
| 子供は泥だらけになって帰ってきた。 | こどもはどろだらけになってかえってきた。 kodomohadorodarakeninattekaettekita。 | The kid came home covered in mud. |
| 彼の部屋は本だらけだ。 | かれのへやはほんだらけだ。 karenoheyahahondarakeda。 | His room is buried in books. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
だらけ is almost always negative — even 本だらけ (a room full of books) reads as cluttered rather than admirable, so it's a poor choice if you actually mean to praise abundance (use いっぱい or 多い instead).