だらけ and まみれ: plentiful problems and substances on surfaces
Compare だらけ for many unwelcome things with まみれ for a coating of a substance. Explore mud as an overlapping case and abstract items where the forms are not interchangeable.
だらけ for many things throughout an area
この作文は間違いだらけです。 means that this composition is full of mistakes. Adding だらけ to 間違い emphasizes many unwelcome instances throughout the work.
部屋は箱だらけでした。 says that the room was full of boxes. Boxes are not inherently bad, but the speaker can use this expression when viewing the scene as crowded or cluttered.
まみれ for substances coating a surface
庭仕事のあと、手が泥まみれになりました。 means that the speaker's hands became covered in mud after gardening. It describes a substance spread over the surface of a person or object.
汗まみれのシャツ is a shirt soaked in sweat. Rather than attaching まみれ to any noun to mean a large quantity, first learn combinations with substances such as 泥 and 汗 that actually stick to or soak into something.
Overlapping scenes and different kinds of objects
泥だらけの靴 and 泥まみれの靴 can both describe muddy shoes. だらけ tends to highlight mud in many places, while まみれ draws attention to a coating over the surface.
だらけ is natural for an answer sheet full of errors: 間違いだらけの答案. Errors are not a substance coating a surface, so do not mechanically replace this with 間違いまみれ to express the same meaning.
Quick check: Does 傷だらけの机 necessarily describe a desk covered in mud or sweat?
Show the answer and why
No. It describes a desk with many scratches. だらけ can express numerous marks or errors, not just substances adhering to surfaces.