まみれCovered or engulfed in
まみれ describes someone or something as thoroughly covered or permeated by an adhering substance, usually something dirty or unpleasant. It also appears in established figurative expressions for being engulfed in a serious problem, especially debt.
The core image
The noun before まみれ names what covers or permeates the person or thing. Mud, blood, sweat, oil, dust, and soot fit especially well because they can cling to a body or surface. The expression usually suggests extensive coverage rather than one small mark.
The three main patterns
Choose the ending according to the larger sentence: use a statement ending, connect to a following noun with の, or use the change pattern when someone or something enters that state.
Figurative use
The same image can extend to an established troublesome condition that seems to engulf someone. A central example is 借金まみれ. This extension is not freely available with every abstract noun.
店を畳んだとき、彼は借金まみれになっていた。
By the time he closed the shop, he was buried in debt.
AnalyzeCoverage versus general abundance
だらけ is broader and can describe scattered items, numerous defects, or general abundance. まみれ more strongly evokes something adhering to a surface or a person being engulfed in an unpleasant state. There is genuine overlap with contaminants: both forms may occur with oil or mud, but the target form makes the coating image especially vivid. For an abstract countable defect, a report “full of mistakes” is normally ミスだらけ, not ミスまみれ.
整備のあと、作業着は油まみれだった。
After the maintenance work, the overalls were coated in oil.
AnalyzeThis wording presents the oil as clinging across the clothing. 油だらけ is also possible, so the distinction is a strong tendency rather than an absolute rule.
More examples
泥まみれの靴をベランダで洗った。
I washed the mud-covered shoes on the balcony.
Analyze古い棚の上は、ほこりまみれだった。
The top of the old shelf was covered in dust.
Analyze子どもたちは泥まみれになって帰ってきた。
The children came home covered in mud.
Analyze事故現場から、血まみれの男性が運ばれた。
A blood-covered man was carried away from the accident scene.
Analyze煙突を掃除したら、顔がすすまみれになった。
After cleaning the chimney, my face became covered in soot.
Analyze事業の失敗で、彼は借金まみれになった。
The business failure left him buried in debt.
Analyze