Proper use of "replete"
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.
Solution 1:
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.
Solution 2:
I'll just add to the other answers that the first sentence would be much better off with the other "plete" word, complete.
Solution 3:
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.
Solution 4:
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.