unevenness; patchiness; blotchiness
Refers to physical unevenness in color, paint, coating, or surface finish. Often used in contexts like painting, printing, or cooking.
The paint on the wall is uneven.
inconsistency; variability; unevenness
Used for abstract unevenness in quality, results, performance, or behavior. Implies lack of uniformity or stability.
fickleness; capriciousness; fitfulness
Describes a person's mood, effort, or attention that fluctuates unpredictably. Often used with words like 気分 (mood) or 性格 (personality).
There's uneven patchiness in how the paint was applied to this wall.
This print has noticeable color unevenness.
His grades are inconsistent.
This team's performance is uneven.
She is moody (her mood is changeable).
That person's work is inconsistent (sometimes good, sometimes bad), which is a problem.
The quality of his work is inconsistent.
She has such unpredictable moods that she's hard to deal with.
It's hard to apply paint evenly, without patches.
To get rid of uneven patches in the paint job, it helps to apply thin coats repeatedly.
気まぐれ describes a person's whimsical, unpredictable behavior in general, while 斑 (むら) specifically points to the unevenness or fluctuation in one's effort, mood, or performance.
不揃い stresses items not matching in size or shape, whereas 斑 (むら) covers unevenness in color, finish, quality, or even a person's mood.
Usually written in kana; the kanji 斑 is also used but less common.
Katakana spelling, sometimes used for emphasis or in casual contexts.
Kanji spelling; encountered in formal or technical writing.
The word むら is of native Japanese origin. Its exact derivation is uncertain, but it may be related to the idea of 'grouping' or 'clustering' (as in 群れ), suggesting irregular distribution. The kanji 斑 is a Chinese character meaning 'spot' or 'speckle', adopted for its semantic fit.