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ぐるみ — “including, all of (something) together”

JLPT N1 Emphasis & Exclusivity

Says a whole group is involved together, wrapped up in the same thing

Noun + ぐるみ (from 包む, “to wrap”) says an entire group is involved together, as one wrapped-up unit — “the whole of X, together.” Common set phrases include 家族ぐるみ (the whole family, together) and 町ぐるみ (the whole town, together) — often used for a shared, collective effort.

How to form it

PatternExample
Noun + ぐるみ家族ぐるみで付き合う — to be close as whole families, together

Example sentences

JapaneseReadingMeaning
わたしたちはかぞくぐるみでこうりゅうしている。
watashitachihakazokugurumidekouryuushiteiru。
Our families are close, and we socialize together as whole units.
まちぐるみでぼうはんかつどうにとりくんでいる。
machigurumidebouhankatsudounitorikundeiru。
The whole town is working together on crime prevention.
かいしゃぐるみのふせいがはっかくした。
kaishaguruminofuseigahakkakushita。
Wrongdoing involving the entire company came to light.

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Watch out

ぐるみ implies a whole group acting or being involved together as a unit — it can carry either a warm, collective sense (家族ぐるみ) or a damning one (会社ぐるみの不正, implicating an entire organization), so tone depends heavily on context.

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