So what’s the difference? Both phrases have a negative connotation and both can be used to say there are (too) many of something.

The most important distinction is that だらけ refers to something is covered in many individual things, whereas ばかり suggests only one from many possibilities.

怪我して体が傷だらけだった。
To have an accident and be covered in bruises.

怪我して体が傷ばかりだった。
(Sounds unnatural—what else could you be covered in after an accident?).

You May Also Like

Colloquial Japanese

One gripe among Japanese learners is that they learn all these verb conjugations and honorifics and then when…

Expressing Similarity in Japanese (よう) & (みたい)

Although the grammar for よう and みたい is slightly different their meaning is essentially the same. You can…

Similarity & Hearsay in Japanese

There are numerous ways to express “seems like” in Japanese and what makes each of these expressions tricky…

とき versus 〜たら

The critical difference is that ~たら assumes that the prior action has been completed before the subsequent action begins.…