competent
Americanadjective
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having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified.
He is perfectly competent to manage the bank branch.
- Synonyms:
- proficient, capable, fit
-
adequate but not exceptional.
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Law. (of a witness, a party to a contract, etc.) having legal competence, as by meeting certain minimum requirements of age, soundness of mind, or the like.
-
Geology. (of a bed or stratum) able to undergo folding without flowage or change in thickness.
adjective
-
having sufficient skill, knowledge, etc; capable
-
suitable or sufficient for the purpose
a competent answer
-
law (of a witness) having legal capacity; qualified to testify, etc
-
belonging as a right; appropriate
Synonym Usage
See able.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of competent
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin competent- (stem of competēns, present participle of competere “to meet, agree”); see compete, -ent
Explanation
If you are competent, you have the necessary ability or skills to do something. If you can carry a heavy tray of food and store a table's worth of orders in your head, you are probably a competent waiter. The opposite of competent is incompetent — an incompetent travel agent might send you to Bahrain when you requested Britain. But competent on its own can sometimes be a veiled criticism, with the implication that someone competent is just going to through the motions — you'd rather have someone inspired on the job. In legal language, competent describes someone who has the mental capacity to take part in a trial or sign a contract.
Vocabulary lists containing competent
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 26–31
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Coincidentally, last March, Ward gave the green light for Carruthers’ execution after his attorneys had argued that Carruthers was not competent to be executed because he was “consumed by psychotic delusions.”
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
My grandmother is 99 years old, but she is mentally competent and understands what she wants to do.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
“She just had no fear at all. She was just an incredibly confident and competent little girl.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
A key element of its work is using education to help people become water competent.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
With Breashears, Ed Viesturs, and Robert Schauer, they were without question the strongest, most competent team on the mountain.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
