Skip to main content

Full or filled?

Full is an adjective, and means ‘containing a lot’:

  • The theatre is completely full this evening.
  • The room was full of books.

Fill is a verb, and means ‘make or become full’. The -ed form is filled:

  • Can you fill this bottle with water for me?
  • She has filled my life with happiness.

We use the -ed form + with as an adjective especially in metaphorical contexts to refer to strong emotions:

  • She looked at him, filled with horror.
  • Not: She looked at him, full of horror.