What does どたばた mean?
どたばた is a Japanese adverb meaning “noisily (running around); with heavy feet” in English. It can also be translated as “in a fluster, slapstick” depending on context. It is written as どたばた in hiragana, and dotabata in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N1 vocabulary.
Example sentence
少年たちは２階でどたばた暴れていた。
The boys were banging about upstairs.