How to Use competent in a Sentence

competent

adjective
Definition of competentnext
Synonyms for competentnext
  • The defendant was declared competent to stand trial.
  • This guy is three years younger and a lot less competent.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
  • Now healthy, Denver has the top seed, a competent roster and one of the best players in the world.
    — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2023
  • More-competent contenders have claimed the issues Trump brought to the fore.
    — Fred Bauer, National Review, 25 July 2022
  • Last week, the judge said Daybell had been made competent and the case could go forward.
    — CBS News, 19 Apr. 2022
  • Despite the light weight, these are both competent reels.
    — Morgan Lyle, Field & Stream, 4 May 2023
  • In July, the court found the boy competent, according to court records.
    — Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 6 Sep. 2023
  • To be culturally competent, Tello said, is to take the time to get to know the client.
    — Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2021
  • Positives: White is a competent run defender with the size and strength to set the edge.
    — Katie McInerney, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Miami still needs a competent one, but Smith can pick up some of the targets that would go to a No. 3.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
  • A lot of soil monitors are more than competent at testing the pH of soil.
    — Karen Hugg, WIRED, 9 Nov. 2022
  • Roberts was transferred back to the jail on Feb. 7 after he was found competent to stand trial on Jan. 31.
    — Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 May 2024
  • Rebel Ridge manages to hit the low bar of being competent and watchable.
    — Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Sep. 2024
  • For what they’re asked to do, Smythe and Hill are certainly competent.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2024
  • Most of these items are best installed by a competent local shop.
    — Jack Baruth, Popular Mechanics, 6 Sep. 2023
  • The son of Trone, now 19 years old, was charged with murder but was later deemed not competent to stand trial.
    — Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 7 Aug. 2024
  • But the judge ruled Michael was competent to stand trial and must remain behind bars.
    — CBS News, 22 Oct. 2022
  • What emerged were two cars—the Z4 and the Supra—that are extremely competent in their own right, with marked differences.
    — Jens Meiners, Car and Driver, 27 Sep. 2022
  • And in the two-by-two matrix of men and women being warm and not warm and competent and not competent.
    — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 7 Dec. 2023
  • And part of those resources are just having a competent staff around me, and a group of guys that are able to be culture enhancers.
    — Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 26 June 2024
  • Some kids are ready to start shooting at a very early age, and some adults will never be competent with a firearm.
    — Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 25 May 2023
  • Kate has always been a competent sailor and William’s pretty good too.
    — Quinci Legardye, Harper's BAZAAR, 31 July 2022
  • The Lions are in danger of being just a little too competent for their own good.
    — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 3 May 2022
  • The Mariemont High School student charged in a plot to attack his school was ruled competent to stand trial Tuesday.
    — Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 14 May 2024
  • Or at least competent enough to steer us through whatever miseries the coming months were sure to bring.
    — Yael Goldstein-Love, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2023
  • Daniels has no competent testimony to give about any of that: She was paid by Michael ...
    — Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 7 May 2024
  • Everything went well, thanks to the competent health personnel, who took care of me.
    — Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 14 Jan. 2024
  • If so, then finding a competent counselor shouldn’t be too hard.
    — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2023
  • Denver is competent again — nowhere near the dumpster fire standing on the opposite headline.
    — Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2024
  • Zegler is competent as Juliet, more like a teenager in a sitcom who has to decide what to wear on a date to the malt shop than a girl who has accidently fallen in love with her father’s enemy.
    — Trish Deitch, Variety, 25 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'competent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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