core competency
Americannoun
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a skill needed in order to be successful at a job or other activity.
Several core competencies have been identified as critical to the success of every student.
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a particular area of knowledge or expertise that gives a business a competitive advantage.
The automaker's core competency is sports cars.
Etymology
Origin of core competency
First recorded in 1990–95
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.
Threading the needle between investors’ need for information and a company’s ability to focus on its core competency isn’t easy—but in some ways the SEC’s proposal fails at both.
From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026
Slowinski also noted that financial analysis appears to be a core competency for OpenAI’s newest GPT-5.4 model, marking another challenge to Anthropic’s enterprise strongholds.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026
On the frontiers of capitalism, nurturing relationships with government officials is often a core competency, or even an existential imperative.
From Salon • Dec. 31, 2024
Political savvy isn’t a required core competency in the infantry.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2024
The core competency there is speed and accuracy,” explained Glocer.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
