competently
Americanadverb
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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
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.
As one government source said: "People want to see us handle the foreign stuff competently but it's not really what people care about - they only vote on foreign affairs grounds in genuinely exceptional circumstances."
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
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
In fact, James is the biggest reason the Lakers were competitive, and had they been competently coached, they could have beaten the Nuggets and would now be advancing through the playoffs.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2024
Colonel Cathcart transferred a round glass paperweight competently from the right edge of his desk to the left edge and picked up a sharpened pencil.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
