all over; filled in; solid; gapless
Describes a surface or area completely covered, filled, or solid, often used adverbially as べたに. Common in contexts like painting, printing, or spreading something without gaps.
壁一面にべたにポスターを貼った。
I plastered posters all over the wall.
Used as a prefix before nouns to mean 'complete' or 'total', often in casual or emphatic expressions.
べた褒めされて照れた。
I was embarrassed by the total praise.
noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
plaintext
Computing term for unformatted text, as opposed to rich text or HTML.
メールはべたテキストで送ってください。
Please send the email in plain text.
solid printing; solid typesetting
Abbreviation of ベタ組み; printing term for setting type without spacing or indentation.
See also: ベタ組み
Abbreviation of ベタ焼き; photography term for a print made by placing the negative directly on the paper.
See also: ベタ焼き
I painted the background solid before drawing the picture.
べた塗りで背景を塗りつぶす。
Fill in the background with a solid coat of paint.
べた負けで悔しい。
It's frustrating to lose completely.
That punchline was too clichéd to be funny.
べたな展開だけど、つい見てしまう。
It's a predictable plot, but I end up watching it anyway.
This page is set solid.
First make a contact print, then choose which ones to enlarge.
そのドラマはベタな展開ばかりだった。
That drama was full of clichéd plot developments.
That punchline was so clichéd it wasn't even funny.
ありがち means 'typical, all-too-common' in a general sense, while べた specifically flags something as a hackneyed comedic or narrative device.
べた is the plain, non-reduplicated form meaning 'solid' or 'clichéd', while ベタベタ is the doubled mimetic form that emphasizes ongoing stickiness, heavy coating, or clinginess.
This ベタ (the fish) is a separate homograph from the common ベタ meaning 'flat/uniform' or 'clichéd', so context is needed to tell them apart.
Standard hiragana spelling; no kanji form exists.
Katakana spelling is common, especially in casual or technical contexts.
The origin is uncertain; it may be related to the mimetic word べったり (sticky, clinging) suggesting something dense or covering completely. The katakana form ベタ is common in modern usage.