replete
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /rɪplˈiːt/
US
- /riˈplit/
Description
- full
- overflowing
- well-supplied
- packed
- abundant
Imagine a Thanksgiving feast—plates piled high with turkey, stuffing, and pie. If you leave that table feeling completely stuffed, you are replete. The word describes being filled to capacity, but it isn't just for food. A garden replete with flowers is overflowing with blooms, and a book might be replete with illustrations.
The word suggests a sense of satisfying completeness. To be replete isn't just to have enough; it is to have plenty. From older writing about minds filled with knowledge to modern travel guides describing cities rich in history, "replete" suggests that something is filled with a lot of something important or noticeable.
To be replete means to be completely full or supplied with plenty of something. It is stronger and more vivid than simply saying "full," and it often suggests richness, plenty, or satisfying completeness. Stemming from the Latin repletus (meaning "filled up"), the word has long carried the idea of abundance.
You might describe a harvest as replete with fruits and vegetables, showing a rich and generous yield. A mind replete with ideas is crowded with thoughts and creativity. The word is often used for positive abundance, but it can also describe unwanted things. A report can be replete with errors, or a speech can be replete with empty promises.
Context shapes the tone. In writing, it often describes something rich in detail or contents: "The ancient library was replete with scrolls and forgotten lore." In a food-related sense, it can describe the feeling of being fully fed: "After the seven-course meal, the guests were utterly replete."
Unlike the word "filled," which can be plain and neutral, "replete" emphasizes the amount and richness of what is there. A room may be filled with furniture, but a story might say it is replete with comfort, color, and warmth. Whether it describes a garden bursting with life, a book packed with examples, or a person happily full after a grand meal, replete paints a vivid picture of something filled to the brim.
Examples
- 1
Banquet
The banquet table was replete with fruit, bread, and cheese.
- 2
Speech content
Her speech was replete with jokes and personal stories.
Pattern
replete with + things
full of those things
- 3
Errors
The report was replete with small errors.
- 4
Literary references
The novel is replete with references to Greek myth.
- 5
Feeling full
By the end of the huge meal, we all felt replete.
Forms and spellings
4 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- repleteverbadjective
Forms
- repletedpast tenseverbadjective
- repletesverbadjective
- repleting-ing formverbadjective