ZUPPO-RI ずっぽり
Meanings
Describes something sinking or becoming deeply embedded in liquid or a soft substance, often until much or nearly all of it is inside.
Examples
My rubber boot sank deep into the rice-field mud and won’t come out.
田んぼの中に長靴がずっぽりとはまって抜けない。
Dogmatic Opinion
Rather than low-viscosity substances such as water, bathwater, or rain, I associate ZUPPO-RI more strongly with thick substances such as mud or a swamp.
The surrounding material seems to cling to the object and gradually envelop it. That makes the process feel slower and heavier than simply dropping into water.
The same spatial image can also apply to sexual penetration: one thing is deeply inserted and surrounded by another.
The core idea is being deeply inside something soft or enveloping, with a sense of being held there.
Proximate Expression
stuck
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Sink deep into, get deeply stuck in, be embedded in, or be buried deep in may fit. With mud, “My boot is stuck deep in the mud” is natural. ZUPPO-RI is close to ZUPPU-RI and DOPPU-RI, but this page’s image emphasizes thick material enclosing and holding the object.
