塗ぬりムラ

ぬ

り

む

ら

Meanings

unevenness in paint or coating

Refers to blotchy, streaky, or inconsistent application of paint, varnish, nail polish, etc. Common in DIY, crafts, and cosmetics contexts.

壁かべにペンキを塗ぬったら塗ぬりムラができてしまった。
When I painted the wall, I ended up with uneven patches.
マニキュアの塗ぬりムラを直なおすのは難むずかしい。
It's hard to fix unevenness in nail polish application.

Kanji

塗paint, plaster, daub
斑spot, blemish, speck

Related words

ムラ
ムラ alone means 'unevenness' or 'patchiness' in general, not limited to painting. 塗りムラ specifically refers to unevenness from applying a coating.
斑むら
斑 is the kanji for 'unevenness' or 'speckles', but 塗りムラ is the standard spelling for this compound.

Written forms

塗ぬりムラUsage100%
Standard mixed kanji-katakana spelling; the katakana ムラ is common for the 'unevenness' meaning.
塗ぬりむら
Hiragana variant; less common but still used.
塗ぬり斑むら
Kanji 斑 is technically correct for 'unevenness' but rarely used in this compound; may be seen in older or formal texts.

Etymology

Compound of 塗り (nuri, 'painting, coating', from 塗る nuru 'to paint') and ムラ (mura, 'unevenness'). The katakana spelling ムラ is conventional for the 'unevenness' sense.