competently
Americanadverb
-
well or with sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc..
Everything was done professionally and very competently.
-
adequately but not exceptionally.
The piece is competently performed, but no more.
Other Word Forms
- noncompetently adverb
- uncompetently adverb
Etymology
Origin of competently
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.
That can be incredibly unsettling, especially to do-it-yourselfers used to handling finances competently on their own.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2025
In a press release issued Friday, Wilson said the company’s transition announcement was a “tremendous failure by the Board to competently plan for the future and manage an effective succession process.”
From Barron's • Dec. 13, 2025
“Beneficiaries of an estate can ask to remove a personal representative when they have demonstrated that they cannot competently manage estate affairs,” according to the Martin Law Office LLC.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 23, 2025
Ensuring that heat pumps are installed competently is paramount, says Steven Metcalf at the University of Warwick.
From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025
As the relief flowed into him like a fast-rising tide, Bernabe began to tell himself that he had handled the situation pretty competently.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
