6

Is replete used appropriately in the following sentence?

His office was like a Hollywood museum, replete with an autographed photo of Marilyn Monroe.

Or should replete only be used with categorical plurals, such as:

His office was like a Hollywood museum, replete with autographed photos of famous stars.

4 Answers 4

11

If a room is replete with something, then it's full or abundantly supplied with it. If there's only one thing -- in this case, a picture of Marilyn Monroe -- then the room can't be replete with it.

8

I'll just add to the other answers that the first sentence would be much better off with the other "plete" word, complete.

4
  • can we use replete and full interchangeably?
    – Jay Dangar
    Commented Feb 14, 2019 at 13:11
  • @JayDangar replete with and full of would be fairly similar, although I wouldn't say they are completely synonymous.
    – Hellion
    Commented Feb 14, 2019 at 13:38
  • so are sentences, "Tank is full of water" and "Tank is full with water", same??
    – Jay Dangar
    Commented Feb 14, 2019 at 13:42
  • "The tank is full of water" is the normal way to express that. You could also say "The tank has been filled with water".
    – Hellion
    Commented Feb 14, 2019 at 13:52
4

Given that replete means gorged, plentiful, stuffed. From the Latin repleo, meaning "to fill up".

I doubt a place can be replete with a single autograph.

However, I have seen it used in worse context.

3

The more correct sentence is the second one.
The first sentence you wrote could be understood as describing a very small office, so small that a photograph would fill it.

You can use replete with a singular noun, as in

Sensational popular fiction, replete with adultery.

3
  • That still implies plenty of it. I don't see how you can have plenty of one photo.
    – TRiG
    Commented Jun 8, 2011 at 17:59
  • The OP didn't report he was trying to avoid a word that would imply "plenty of it."
    – avpaderno
    Commented Jun 8, 2011 at 18:07
  • It can be used - wrongly I think - to mean something that is so significant that it takes over the place. If the photo was exceptionally significant, it could be used in this form and be understood. Commented Feb 1, 2012 at 12:42

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