JLPT N1 grammar

〜ずくめmeaning and usage

Meaning

Completely A; entirely A

How to form it

  • nounずくめ
  • nounずくめのnoun

How it is used

After a noun: 'nothing but A, A all over'. Used with a limited set of words such as 「黒ずくめ」, 「いいことずくめ」 and 「規則ずくめ」. It can be good or bad, whereas 「だらけ」 and 「まみれ」 are usually negative.

Examples

  1. 彼女はいつも黒ずくめの服を着ていた。

    She was always wearing all black.

  2. 今年は就職も決まり、結婚もして、いいことずくめの一年だった。

    This year I got a job and got married: it was a year of nothing but good things.

  3. この学校は規則ずくめで、生徒たちは息が詰まりそうだ。

    This school is all rules, and the students feel they can barely breathe.