How to use competent in a sentence
40 example sentences · adjective
Competent means having sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications. Example: “He is a competent skier and an expert snowboarder.”
Examples of competent by meaning
adjectiveHaving sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications.
- He is a competent skier and an expert snowboarder.
- I believe in that myself because it has been explained by competent men as the convolutions of the grey matter.1922, James Joyce, Ulysses
- That as a competent keyless citizen he had proceeded energetically from the unknown to the known through the incertitude of the void.1922, James Joyce, Ulysses
adjectiveHaving jurisdiction or authority over a particular issue or question.
- For any disagreements arising from this contract, the competent court shall be the Springfield Circuit Court.
- judicial authority having competent jurisdiction
adjectiveFunctionally in order; functioning adequately.
- a competent sphincter; a competent cervix; a competent immune system
More sentences with competent
- A business suit and adequate elocution help her to come across as the competent professional she is.From the entry come across
- He learned to work the fryer as part of becoming a competent cook for a commercial kitchen.From the entry fryer
- Her artwork was judged to be competent but uncreative.From the entry uncreative
- The high-IQers were considered competent enough to proceed.From the entry IQer
- Part of being a competent engineer is knowing how to trade off appropriately among mutually exclusive options, depending on the specified requirements for each design.From the entry trade off
- The state had an interest in making sure lawyers, doctors, and religious men were competent.2026 May 9, Hollis Robbins, “What does the "higher" in higher ed mean? AI is forcing the question”, in Anecdotal Value [Substack newsletter]. From the entry higher education
- But in essence, it's still a train any competent driver should be able to learn easily.2023 July 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Training starts on heavily delayed SWR Arterios”, in RAIL, number 987, page 22. From the entry tech
- The Songbei District People's Court submitted a judicial suggestion to the related competent administrative department.2010, Jinrong Huang, “Public Interest Law in 2008”, in Lin Li, editor, The China Legal Development Yearbook, volume 4, →ISBN, →OCLC, page…. From the entry Songbei
- For the audience, watching competent people banter and plan was a big part of the appeal.2009 August 11, John Rogers, “LEVERAGE #204 ‘The Fairy Godparents Job’ Post-game”, in Kung Fu Monkey (blog), archived from the original on…. From the entry competence porn
- Using the information presented in these directories, providers can assist TBI survivors in locating competent neurolawyers.1996, Barbara P. Uzzell, Henry H. Stonnington, Recovery after traumatic brain injury. From the entry neurolawyer
- Lesbian, 29, overinvolved in being competent, seeks casual, affectionate relationship with embraceable GF.1980 December 13, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 21, page 22. From the entry embraceable
- It has already been established that the crew was competent and qualified for operation of AS66.1972 October 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.1 Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Alaska Airlines, Inc., Boeing 727…. From the entry irritation
- A good college, if it does nothing else, ought to produce competent syntopical readers.1972, Mortimer J. Adler with Charles Van Doren, chapter 3, in How to Read a Book, Touchstone September 2014 edition, New York, NY: Simon &…. From the entry syntopical
- In a somewhat left-handed compliment, UN Secretary-General U Thant described Russia's new bosses as "competent and unpretentious."1964 October 30, “The Morning After”, in Time, retrieved 07 Oct 2013. From the entry left-handed compliment
- The "Rose" was an angel; good-natured, immensely competent and strong, unfussable and docile.1961, Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society, Alpine Garden Society, page 154. From the entry unfussable
- But doctors who are competent to speak say that sapphic vice is widespread among them.1912, The modern Parisienne, London: William Heinemann, translation of Études de sociologie féminine : Parisiennes de ce temps et leurs…. From the entry sapphic vice
- Court records show he was previously ruled not competent for prosecution, Baker Acted 33 times and released back onto the street.2018 February 27, Kent Justice, “Jacksonville man charged with masturbating in front of kids”, in News4Jax. From the entry Baker Act
- Recent cases have shown the need for competent legal representation from the very earliest stages of the family-formation process.2016, Elizabeth F. Schwartz, “LGBT Issues in Surrogacy: Present and Future Challenges”, in E. Scott Sills, editor, Handbook of Gestational…. From the entry co-maternity
- He’s a little spectrumy, but perfectly competent.2011, Claire LaZebnik, Families and Other Nonreturnable Gifts, 5 Spot (2011), unnumbered page. From the entry spectrumy
- Chiang habitually failed to take the advice of competent strategists.[2007, Brian Taylor, “Chiang Kai-shek and the Loss of China”, in Washington College International Studies Review, volume IV, page 72. From the entry Xuchang
- Unless and until the focus shifts to competent execution, the nation’s preparedness posture will not be solidly grounded.2006, Frank J. Cilluffo, “Biodefense and Pandemic Influenza”, in Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. Special…. From the entry plandemic
- If you actually think that the CIA is competent enough to place Ahmadinejad in power, you've really lost it.2006 December 11, dean6294, ynetnews talkbacks. From the entry doublethunk
- As the importance of a competent labor force increased, it became increasingly necessary to separate the able-bodied poor from the nonable-bodied.1992, Peter Conrad, Joseph W. Schneider, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness, page 44. From the entry nonable-bodied
- An experienced dragonrider never allows his animal to sleep unless he knows there is a competent wizard nearby.1989, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, The Prophet of Akhran (Rose of the Prophet; 3), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN. From the entry dragonrider
- Perhaps it simply proved that a work of genius takes longer to gestate than a work of mere competent brilliance.1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes, paperback edition, Penguin, page 112. From the entry gestate
- White males find it inherently impossible to believe that a woman or minority can be competent and can be qualified.1976, Affirmative Action in Employment in Higher Education. From the entry superminority
- I'll bite and I hope others more competent than I am have deluged you with rebuttals of absurd statements made therein.1932 December 25, T. Hayden Hamilton, “In Defense of Engineers: They Are Presented as Conscientious, Hard-Working, Sympathetic…. From the entry I'll bite
- The one thing that no democrat may assume is that the people are dear good souls, fully competent for their task.1913: Walter Lippmann, A Preface to Politics, pages page 152 (2008 publication). From the entry fetich
- Participants felt more enjoyment from the media feedback when they felt more encouraged, more competent, more autonomy, and that the information was accurate.2021, Ryan Rogers, Media Feedback: Our Lives in Loops, page 31. From the entry encouraged
- If you are merely competent or even barely competent, yet you are wanted, your personality is superrewarding; people will want to keep you around.2019, Dr. Gary S. Goodman, How to Create Your Own High Paying Job. From the entry superrewarding
- Rb1-competent cells displayed mono-nucleated morphology whereas the Rb1-negative cells displayed considerable micronucleation consistent with an attenuated mitotic checkpoint arising from an Mps1 functional block.2015 September 24, “Mitotic Checkpoint Kinase Mps1 Has a Role in Normal Physiology which Impacts Clinical Utility”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI. From the entry micronucleation
- The need to be competent is made extreme in a town like Milano, Italy, which can be compared, in management terms, to a huge company.2014, Cristina Archetti, “The nature of the issues with which politicians deal”, in Politicians, Personal Image and the Construction of…. From the entry Milano
- No competent banker would make a NINJA loan unless he was faced with a Governmental Carrot, a Governmental Stick, or a combination of both.2008, FL Turbo, “OT - Do you really think you can trust Bush?”, in rec.gambling.poker (Usenet). From the entry ninja loan
- He was a competent lawyer, and he was rich, and neither overly greedy nor overly hoardful, which was true of all Heaths.2007, Ellen Cooney, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies, page 10. From the entry hoardful
Meaning of competent
- adjective Having sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications.
- adjective Having jurisdiction or authority over a particular issue or question.
- adjective Adequate for the purpose.
Questions about competent in a sentence
- How do you use competent in a sentence?
- Competent is used as an adjective. For example: “He is a competent skier and an expert snowboarder.”
- What is a short sentence with competent?
- “judicial authority having competent jurisdiction”
- What does competent mean?
- Competent means having sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: competent (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use competent in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/competent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
