1.
to overflow; to spill over
For liquid or contents to exceed a container's capacity and spill out.
お風呂のお湯が溢れた。
The bathwater overflowed.
コップから水が溢れそうだ。
The water is about to overflow from the glass.
涙が溢れて止まらなかった。
Tears overflowed and wouldn't stop.
2.
to be filled with; to brim with
To be full of an emotion, quality, or abundance of something.
彼女は自信に溢れている。
She is brimming with confidence.
活気に溢れた市場を歩いた。
I walked through a market brimming with energy.
街には観光客が溢れていた。
The town was overflowing with tourists.
溢れる is an intransitive verb (自動詞) describing overflow or abundance.
ASPECT (ている):
溢れている indicates something is currently overflowing or full of something.
PARTICLE PATTERNS:
- [container]から[liquid]が溢れる — [liquid] overflows from [container]
- [quality]に溢れる — to be full of [quality]
- [place]に[things]が溢れる — [place] is overflowing with [things]
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 涙が溢れる (tears overflow)
- 愛情に溢れる (full of affection)
- 活気に溢れる (full of vitality)
- 笑顔に溢れる (full of smiles)
OFTEN WRITTEN IN HIRAGANA:
This verb is frequently written as あふれる rather than 溢れる due to the kanji's complexity.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 零れる: to spill (smaller amounts, drops)
- 溢れる: to overflow (larger amounts, abundance)