Both Uses of
competent
in
Washington Square
- Our friend, however, escaped criticism: that is, he escaped all criticism but his own, which was much the most competent and most formidable.†
Chpt 1 *
- But he was not for a single instant the dupe of her blundering alacrity; he knew that of what she promised she was competent to perform but an insignificant fraction, and the more she professed her willingness to serve him, the greater fool he thought her.†
Chpt 28
Definition:
-
(competent) capable (able to do something in a generally satisfactory manner) -- sometimes specifically to have legal capability