What does "full" mean?
Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
Full
/fʊl/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
- Grammar: full is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: entire, a great deal, abounding, absolute.
- Useful contrasts: close-fitting, empty, hungry.
- Usage evidence: Why is life so full of suffering?
How to use "full"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "full" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "full" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "full" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "full" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "full" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "entire" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "full", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
"The swan's-down feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide."
- 2 the time when the Moon is fully illuminated wordnet
- 3 The phase of the moon when its entire face is illuminated, full moon.
"It is like, that the brain of man waxeth moister and fuller upon the full of the moon: …"
- 4 A flip involving a complete turn in midair.
- 5 An aerialist maneuver consisting of a backflip in conjunction and simultaneous with a complete twist.
Verb
- 1 To become full or wholly illuminated.
"The September moon fulls on the 20th at 24 minutes past midnight, and is called the harvest moon."
- 2 To baptise. transitive
"And thy diſciples fulleden men in thy name, in forgiueneſſe of her ſinnes."
- 3 To make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing; to waulk or walk.
- 4 increase in phase wordnet
- 5 make (a garment) fuller by pleating or gathering wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 beat for the purpose of cleaning and thickening wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
"The jugs were full to the point of overflowing."
- 2 Complete; with nothing omitted.
"Our book gives full treatment to the subject of angling."
- 3 Complete; with nothing omitted.; Surjective as a map of morphisms
- 4 Complete; with nothing omitted.; Including all morphisms. Formally: Such that for every pairs of objects (X, Y) in S, the hom-sets operatorname Hom_S(X,Y) and operatorname Hom_C(X,Y) are equal.
- 5 Total, entire.
"'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 Completely empowered, authorized or qualified (in some role); not limited.
"full member"
- 7 Having eaten to satisfaction, having a "full" stomach; replete. informal
""I'm full," he said, pushing back from the table."
- 8 Replete, abounding with. informal
"This movie doesn't make sense; it's full of plot holes."
- 9 Carrying as much as possible. in-plural, informal
"Hang on - my hands are full; just let me put these down."
- 10 Plump, round.
"full lips; a full face; a full figure"
- 11 Having its entire face illuminated.
"For on those evenings, when the moon is full and bright and clear, mothers and fathers in Siam tell their children to look up at the moon and then ask them what they see there."
- 12 Of a size that is ample, wide, or having ample folds or pleats to be comfortable.
"a full pleated skirt; She needed her full clothing during her pregnancy."
- 13 Having depth and body; rich.
"a full singing voice"
- 14 Having the mind filled with ideas; stocked with knowledge; stored with information. obsolete
"Reading maketh a full man."
- 15 Having the attention, thoughts, etc., absorbed in any matter, and the feelings more or less excited by it.
"She's full of her latest project."
- 16 Filled with emotions.
"The heart is so full that a drop overfills it."
- 17 Impregnated; made pregnant. obsolete
"Ilia, the fair, […] full of Mars."
- 18 Said of the three cards of the same rank in a full house. postpositional
"nines full of aces"
- 19 Drunk, intoxicated. Australia
"Mr. Coniff: That is the only evidence you gave of his being intoxicated, that his hat was on the side? […] Mr. Coniff: That is the only indication you gave the committee when you were asked if the judge was full, that his hat was on the side of his head; is that right?"
Adjective
- 1 having the normally expected amount wordnet
- 2 having ample fabric wordnet
- 3 constituting the full quantity or extent; complete wordnet
- 4 complete in extent or degree and in every particular wordnet
- 5 containing as much or as many as is possible or normal wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 being at a peak or culminating point wordnet
- 7 (of sound) having marked deepness and body wordnet
- 8 filled to satisfaction with food or drink wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Fully; quite; very; thoroughly; completely; exactly; entirely. archaic, not-comparable
"Prospero: I have done nothing but in care of thee, Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who Art ignorant of what thou art; naught knowing Of whence I am, nor that I am more better Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell, And thy no greater father."
Adverb
- 1 to the greatest degree or extent; completely or entirely; (‘full’ in this sense is used as a combining form) wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from German.
Antonyms
Example
"Why is life so full of suffering?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "full"?
Common synonyms include: entire, a great deal, abounding, absolute, absorbed, abundant.
How do you use "full" in a sentence?
Why is life so full of suffering?
How do you pronounce "full"?
Pronounced /fʊl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English ful, from Old English full (“full”), from Proto-West Germanic *full, from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Germanic cognates include West Frisian fol, Low German vull, Dutch vol, German voll, Danish fuld, and Norwegian and Swedish full (the latter three via Old Norse). Proto-Indo-European cognates include English plenty (via Latin, compare plēnus), Welsh llawn, Russian по́лный (pólnyj), Lithuanian pilnas, Persian پر (por), Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇá). See also fele and Scots fou (whence the English doublet fou (“drunk”)). For the "drunk, intoxicated" sense, compare also Swedish full and other Scandinavian languages.
Etymology 2
From Middle English fulle, fylle, fille, from Old English fyllu, fyllo (“fullness, fill, plenty”), from Proto-Germanic *fullį̄, *fulnō (“fullness, filling, overflow”), from Proto-Indo-European *plūno-, *plno- (“full”), from *pelh₁-, *pleh₁- (“to fill; full”). Cognate with German Fülle (“fullness, fill”), Icelandic fylli (“fulness, fill”). More at fill.
Etymology 3
From Middle English fullen, fulwen (“to baptise”), from Old English fullian, fulwian (“to baptise”), from full- + *wīhan (later *wēon (“to make holy”)). Compare Old English fulluht, fulwiht (“baptism”).
Etymology 4
From Middle English fullen (“to full”), from Anglo-Norman fuller, fuler, Middle French foller, fouler, from Old French foler, fouler (“to tread, stamp, full”), from Medieval Latin fullāre, from Latin fullō (“a fuller”). Compare Old English fullian (“to full”).
Etymology 5
Borrowed from German Full.