まみれ

1. 1Covered all over with a substance, usually an unpleasant one (mud, blood, sweat, dust, oil, etc.).Ex. 1
2. 2Figuratively, thoroughly steeped in or burdened by something, typically negative (e.g., debt, scandal).

Used in both speech and writing to describe a person or object thoroughly coated with something, typically dirty or unpleasant (泥まみれ, 血まみれ, 汗まみれ, ほこりまみれ, 油まみれ). Figurative uses like 借金まみれ are common, and playful positive coinages such as 幸せまみれ or 猫まみれ also appear in casual language. Unlike だらけ, which stresses a large number of things, まみれ pictures a substance smeared over or clinging to the whole surface.

• だらけN3Besides describing a covered surface, 「だらけ」 also expresses a large number of things scattered about, as in 「間違いだらけ」, a use 「まみれ」 does not allow. When someone is covered in mud or blood the two are interchangeable, though 「まみれ」 puts more emphasis on the whole surface being smeared over.
• ずくめN1「ずくめ」 emphasizes uniformity throughout—being dressed all in one color (「黒ずくめ」) or having a period of time filled with one kind of thing (「いいことずくめ」)—and can carry either a positive or a negative tone. It never describes being smeared with mud, blood, or the like, so it cannot be swapped with 「まみれ」.
• じみたN1「じみた」 means having a certain quality or resembling a certain type of person, as in 「芝居じみた」 and 「子供じみた」, and has nothing to do with being covered or smeared. It attaches directly when modifying a noun, unlike 「まみれ」, which needs 「の」; the two cannot be interchanged.
• めくN1「めく」 means having a certain air or looking like something, as in 「春めく」 and 「謎めいた」; it involves no smearing or covering and carries no positive or negative shade. It conjugates as a godan verb and leans literary, while 「まみれ」 describes a surface smeared over or being deep in something and is mostly negative, so the two cannot be interchanged.
• びるN1「まみれ」 attaches to nouns and means being smeared with mud, blood, and the like, or being mired in a bad situation such as debt. 「びる」 occurs only in a small set of fixed words like 「大人びる」 and 「古びる」, forming verbs that mean to seem like something, with a literary flavor; the two cannot be interchanged.

だらけ means "full of" many scattered things, and まみれ means coated all over with a substance, while ずくめ means "entirely consisting of" and can be neutral or positive (黒ずくめ, いいことずくめ). じみた, めく, and びる express resemblance or showing signs of something (子供じみた, 春めく, 大人びる), not being covered by anything.