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competent
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show 186 more with this conextual meaning
  • Mother was competent in providing for us.   (source)
  • Even the humblest Party member is expected to be competent, industrious, and even intelligent within narrow limits, but it is also necessary that he should be a credulous and ignorant fanatic whose prevailing moods are fear, hatred, adulation, and orgiastic triumph.   (source)
  • Vera came forward in a competent manner.   (source)
    competent = capable
  • Meanwhile, they shall be at the command of any gentleman, inclined and competent, to take the unprofitable labour off my hands.   (source)
    competent = sufficiently capable
  • "Drummle," said I, "you are not competent to give advice on that subject."   (source)
  • If J.E., who advertised in the —shire Herald of last Thursday, possesses the acquirements mentioned, and if she is in a position to give satisfactory references as to character and competency, a situation can be offered her where there is but one pupil, a little girl, under ten years of age; and where the salary is thirty pounds per annum.   (source)
    competency = ability
  • 'Stop! look here, Joseph,' she continued, taking a long, dark book from a shelf; 'I'll show you how far I've progressed in the Black Art: I shall soon be competent to make a clear house of it.'   (source)
    competent = sufficiently capable
  • Lazovsky didn't join him; rather he put his fists on his hips and looked down at the Count with an unmistakable expression of competence.†   (source)
  • They were pink, fat, friendly, very competent and sweated profusely.†   (source)
  • He has achieved high marks in all Defence Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher.†   (source)
  • I am merely concerned for the competence of our technology.†   (source)
  • She is one of those people who are completely calm and competent, and as a result no one ever messes with her.†   (source)
  • It's easy to see that you're a very competent person."†   (source)
  • Dorian's Eyllwe was just competent enough that he understood the gist of it to be: "His Highness certainly knows how to keep women entertained."†   (source)
  • Claude understands that he ought to resent them, but he admires their competence and manners, the clean efficiency with which they move.†   (source)
  • I know that Dell's not a very competent person.†   (source)
  • At some point in the future, she knew from listening to the second-year students, she would begin to take pleasure in her competence.†   (source)
  • It was a myth you couldn't function on opiates: shooting up was one thing but for someone like me —jumping at pigeons beating from the sidewalk, afflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder practically to the point of spasticity and cerebral palsy—pills were the key to being not only competent, but high-functioning.†   (source)
  • At the best, you call up my temperamental but extremely competent hotel manager and work him into a frenzy as part of some … some stupid kid's game.†   (source)
  • No, I would not take the throne in Uru'baen …. not unless there was no one else willing or competent enough to take it.†   (source)
  • Is my sin a failure of virtue, or of competence?†   (source)
  • The first level is Competent.†   (source)
  • Look, Theo, you're the most competent and capable Foreign Service professional l've ever worked with.†   (source)
  • The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was mentally competent.†   (source)
  • That second week was very hard for a lot of guys, and my memory is clear: the instructors preached competence in all techniques and exercises.†   (source)
  • The man with no name was there and he smiled peacefully and quietly and untangled the dogs with his gentle competence and pulled them out straight and got them going again, then stood back as we went by and I tried once more to touch him but could not.†   (source)
  • The experience cut him deeply, in particular the fact his competence lay exposed to the review of a bureaucrat over whom he had no influence.†   (source)
  • When the narrator watches the blind man eating—competent, busy, hungry, and, well, normal—he begins to gain a new respect for him.†   (source)
  • It was a fierce level of commitment and competence that Mae had never seen from someone her age or near her age, and Mae was thereafter loyal in a way she'd never known she could be.†   (source)
  • The others here were obviously competent, disciplined, and professional.†   (source)
  • Uncle Enzo is cooperating with Mr. Lee, which means working with Ng, and Ng, while highly competent, has a technological bias that Uncle Enzo distrusts.†   (source)
  • My aim was to help Ramiro get through his teen-age years with a sense of empowerment and esteem, with what I call complete literacy: The ability to participate competently and confidently in any level of society one chooses.†   (source)
  • This outburst struck the passengers as an all but total breakdown of authority, competence and command presence and it brought on a round of fresh and desperate wailing.†   (source)
  • I do not doubt your competence for one moment, Miss Kenton.†   (source)
  • Mr. Stuart Robinson is not competent to manage Lamp, Los Angeles, Cleveland, New York City LAPD, and I don't want any of those clowns in there telling me what to do when they cannot deal with the drug addicts and cigarette smokers who come in here and steal everything.†   (source)
  • Regardless, I suppose it was mildly competent, what you two did.†   (source)
  • Five men swarmed from the 'thopter and Hawat saw the dust-repellent shimmering of shields and, in their motions, the hard competence of Sardaukar.†   (source)
  • Second, the surgeons lacked competence or effective skills.†   (source)
  • He prefers to let a competent mechanic take care of these things so that they are done right.†   (source)
  • Unlike our beloved Dr. Jay in Florida, who knew Marley almost as well as we did and who truly had become a family friend by the time we left, these were strangers—competent strangers but strangers nonetheless.†   (source)
  • And furthermore other men admired him because he was powerful and good at his work, because on the sea he was thoroughly competent and even in his rough way elegantly so; still, their admiration was colored by their distrust of his size and his brooding deliberation.†   (source)
  • She was a competent midwife and decisive diagnostician.†   (source)
  • Seven doctors worked at the complex, not all of them fully competent—the staff was entirely Haitian, and Haitian medical training is mediocre at best.†   (source)
  • A chapter near the end of the book compared the level of competence of Swedish and foreign financial reporters.†   (source)
  • The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, a state-wide organization with headquarters in Topeka, had a staff of nineteen experienced detectives scattered through the state, and the services of these men are available whenever a case seems beyond the competence of local authorities.†   (source)
  • She had tried to hide the discomfort behind the mask of competence that she usually wore, only to realize that in her hurry, she must have left it behind somewhere.†   (source)
  • Under the new government, competent professionals such as she, with advanced degrees and years of experience, were demoted and replaced by more passionately political administrators.†   (source)
  • Izzi and I exchange a glance at that—his sheer competence is unnerving.†   (source)
  • As you see, all these natural talents certainly qualify you as a competent therapist and render you quite capable of criticizing Miss Ratched's meeting procedure, in spite of the fact that she is a highly regarded psychiatric nurse with twenty years in the field.†   (source)
  • Colonel Tony Johnson, Nancy's commanding officer when she had worked at USAMRIID, remembered her competence in a space suit and wanted to get her back.†   (source)
  • She seemed steady, competent, focused, and kind.†   (source)
  • Ean masterfully mounted his horse, and I was happy that he was as competent as he'd led me to believe.†   (source)
  • Yvette was by far the most competent of my coworkers, and she and I would often work together on any electrical job requiring proficiency with tools.†   (source)
  • James Greer was sixty-six, a naval officer past retirement age who kept working through brute competence, much as Hyman Rickover had, though Greer was a far easier man to work for.†   (source)
  • The old man had been a competent Mexican bandit before he ran out of steam and crossed the river.†   (source)
  • We're all competent, if uninspiring, with our music—except for Ann.†   (source)
  • "Greg was incredibly fast, calm, and competent in an emergency," Vaughan remembers.†   (source)
  • The corner location really started paying off, and I soon found myself handling more patients than I could handle competently.†   (source)
  • If she could solve that puzzle, it would prove she was still sane, at least still competent to think things through clearly.†   (source)
  • When he operated late into the night and into the morning, she was across from him, more constant than his own shadow, dutiful, competent, uncomplaining, and never absent.†   (source)
  • Everyone assumed that her dad had helped her get the job, but in reality she was a very good journalist and the most competent member of Charlie "Mac" Thompkin's staff.†   (source)
  • Was I allowed to be the grieving daughter, or should I be the competent, grief-denying professional?†   (source)
  • And the danger of placing authority in less-than-competent hands.†   (source)
  • But if unspectacular, Ward was competent, thoughtful, and not without good sense, as time would show.†   (source)
  • Two men and a woman worked at it busily, with a seamless ballet of competence in motion.†   (source)
  • But my grandma Bundrum, who wasn't big on churches her ownself, had whispered to me that if a really competent sinner enters church, the whole thing splits right down the middle.†   (source)
  • Insofar as I'm here-geographically, not in this chair-it can be assumed I was competent.†   (source)
  • He was a journeyman tailor, he said, and his own good, plain clothes told that he was a competent one.†   (source)
  • She was competent, decisive, self-reliant; perhaps she intimidated them, for before long they drifted their attentions elsewhere.†   (source)
  • He didn't take part in the fighting itself, but who could doubt that he would be as competent at killing men as he was at everything else he undertook?†   (source)
  • Luke took the sword and held it with the careless competence of someone who had handled blades all their life; sometimes it was hard for Alec to remember that Luke had been a Shadowhunter once, but he remembered now.†   (source)
  • Be certain you reach Westeros before my sister falls and someone more competent takes her place.†   (source)
  • This was a place of competence and power.†   (source)
  • As she continued to clear the table, Lee tried to imagine Hunter competently preparing meals for several young, chattering girls.†   (source)
  • Consistent with the stereotype that praise from males is taken more seriously than praise from females, participants in the experiments rated the tutor computer as significantly more competent and more friendly when it was praised by a "male" computer than by a "female" computer.†   (source)
  • My husband and I believe you will make an excellent one, sympathetic and competent.†   (source)
  • He wished now that he had learned more in Rivendell, and looked more at maps and things; but in those days the plans for the journey seemed to be in more competent hands, and he had never reckoned with being cut off from Gandalf, or from Strider, and even from Frodo.†   (source)
  • The honor court had selected its sternest, most competent prosecutor to try Pig's case.†   (source)
  • He was a competent lawyer, excelling in cases where firm legal precedent had been set and could be cited.†   (source)
  • For ten years she hadn't realized the breadth of what I had accomplished with my exacting competence, the daily work I did, which unto itself became an unassailable body of cover.†   (source)
  • As Rafi grew more competent, his passion for climbing and Alessandro's diverged.†   (source)
  • Everywhere he looks, there is competence and good health.†   (source)
  • Denny proved competent, but not so good with the customers.†   (source)
  • A competent legislator has good intentions, sound judgment, and some knowledge of legislative subjects.†   (source)
  • A moody man, often competent, bad-tempered, wealthy, aspires to a place in Richmond society, frets and broods and fights with superiors.†   (source)
  • I stood at the podium next to my client while the judge went through a lengthy question-and-answer session to ensure that Johnny Wayne was competent to enter a guilty plea, that he understood what was going on, and that he wasn't under the influence of alcohol or drugs.†   (source)
  • Lou and Oz rode Sue every day and had gotten to the point where Louisa had proclaimed them good, competent riders.†   (source)
  • Half-competent technicians program these into Mike.†   (source)
  • I have a modest competence now I will never be a disgrace to you or to my dear brother the son you love.†   (source)
  • The attackers' cruelty was matched only by their competence.†   (source)
  • "I don't know too much about it, but I'd lay odds a good psychoanalyst—I mean a really competent one—would probably take that statement—"†   (source)
  • If the Glatun needed help he was free to ask, and offering could be taken as pestering or questioning the Glatun's competence.†   (source)
  • A semiofficial estimate of the wolf population of Keewatin had already been made by the competent authorities on the basis of information received from the usual trapper-trader sources, and the given figure was thirty thousand wolves.†   (source)
  • And that mattered, the way it mattered that she be busy but not busy at the same time — that, while competent, she be a Chinese girl.†   (source)
  • That schoolhouse up there go'n be shut down till I can find y'all a competent teacher.†   (source)
  • DYSART: May I remind you I share this room with two highly competent psychiatrists?†   (source)
  • PLAYER (modestly) : Oh, come, come, gentlemen-no flattery-it was merely competent The TRAGEDIANS are still congratulating him.†   (source)
  • Across the circular, waxed teak table, looking fresh and competent, Helen sipped a Scotch and checked what she called her "must" list.†   (source)
  • I told him I was not competent to answer.†   (source)
  • He was brilliant-the others are just competent engineers.†   (source)
  • He's supposed to be a very brave type, very competent.†   (source)
  • One of them sort of falls within my area of competence.†   (source)
  • His hands were rough, callused, competent.†   (source)
  • Then someone steps up with some mad idea that's just simple enough to look sensible, simple enough that busy shoemakers can know the affairs of the world are in competent hands, they needn't concern themselves--as in Plato's Republic.†   (source)
  • We also talked about mediocre publicists who have nothing to say to life and the world as a whole, of petty second-raters who are only too happy when some nation, preferably a small and wretched one, is constantly discussed-this gives them a chance to show off their competence and cleverness, and to thrive on their compassion for the persecuted.†   (source)
  • He felt consciously strong, competent both for himself and against himself, and this pleasurable sense of firmness contended against the perfect and limpid remembrance he had for a moment experienced, and he tried sadly, vainly, to recapture it.†   (source)
  • He's very competent.†   (source)
  • I thanked him, feeling surprised that Puli had not known, he who was so competent in his way.†   (source)
  • RICH He said, "Parliament has not the competence."†   (source)
  • Everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner; and, with the dessert upon the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamplight.   (source)
  • I do not speak to the feeble, or think of them: I address only such as are worthy of the work, and competent to accomplish it.   (source)
  • He may be too proud to let any one take him out of a place that he is competent to fill, and fills well and with respect.   (source)
  • Mrs. Fairfax turned out to be what she appeared, a placid-tempered, kind-natured woman, of competent education and average intelligence.   (source)
    competent = sufficient
  • He gave the medical testimony, in pointed imitation of our local practitioner; and he piped and shook, as the aged turnpike-keeper who had heard blows, to an extent so very paralytic as to suggest a doubt regarding the mental competency of that witness.   (source)
    competency = legal capability
  • I would do it in a friendly way for I liked the boy, who was serious and competent by nature.†   (source)
  • Treena and her competent manner had evaporated.†   (source)
  • The staff, most of whom I have now come to know by first name, seemed courteous, patient, competent.†   (source)
  • He sent word to a Haitian surgeon in Mirebalais, one he knew to be competent.†   (source)
  • Clearly Holmes had not consulted an architect, at least not a competent one.†   (source)
  • It occurred to me that this was the ultimate device for determining one's competence in the world.†   (source)
  • We're talking about an exceptionally competent and respected businesswoman."†   (source)
  • Did the officers act in what seemed to you a competent and professional manner?†   (source)
  • Georgia was attempting to look confident, competent, but Mae saw fear and trepidation in her eyes.†   (source)
  • I don't know if the officers were competent.†   (source)
  • He's competent, but he does more harm than good.†   (source)
  • Patrolmen, many of them, were barely competent, appointed solely at the direction of ward bosses.†   (source)
  • He had transformed Milton Security into one of Sweden's most competent and trusted security firms.†   (source)
  • You will do precisely everything in your power to ensure that I am declared competent.†   (source)
  • I defined myself by my competence and independence.†   (source)
  • Amy was tall and competent and looked good in jeans.†   (source)
  • There's usually a reason for both of those things for a man of my age and competence.†   (source)
  • Frankly, we don't think you're competent.†   (source)
  • Something about me being worthy and competent or whatever.†   (source)
  • As an adult I fully realized I was a fairly competent, independent person.†   (source)
  • "I'm not competent to judge whether or not Salander is mentally ill."†   (source)
  • He is not as competent as might be wished.†   (source)
  • Max McDaniels, you are the least competent liar I've ever encountered," said Ms.†   (source)
  • I wondered if her competence would be enough to save her.†   (source)
  • Her voice was trained to a throaty purr that transmitted competent sex.†   (source)
  • But she'll always survive… She's the most competent person I've ever met.†   (source)
  • She shortened the stirrups quickly, competently.†   (source)
  • None, so far as Eddis could see, cared if he would be a competent ruler.†   (source)
  • Long and laborious study will be needed to acquire a competent knowledge of them.†   (source)
  • You may have seen "inspired" productions, "competent" productions, but never anything beautiful.†   (source)
  • It's not about whether Louisa Mae Cardinal is competent or not.†   (source)
  • He doesn't trust me, or he hasn't decided I'm competent to head the investigation.†   (source)
  • He was competent, but if we had to stop suddenly, I thought, there would be no hope.†   (source)
  • He was without doubt an extremely competent news editor.†   (source)
  • I heard Morse has been found competent to stand trial.†   (source)
  • "Competent?" repeated Lavier, as if she did not believe what she had heard.†   (source)
  • And you say that she was a competent researcher?†   (source)
  • She seemed calm, competent again, as though the last night's storm had blown itself out.†   (source)
  • His fingers were both clever and competent, his inner eye as keen as a knife blade.†   (source)
  • They looked competent and powerful—a surgeon's hands.†   (source)
  • Revolution is a science only a few are competent to practice.†   (source)
  • Both men were competent officers, sharing a romantic attachment to their profession.†   (source)
  • He knew Deets was a great deal more competent than he was in many areas--tracking, for example.†   (source)
  • The code of competence is the only system of morality that's on a gold standard.†   (source)
  • They told Ajihad you were competent in all magic, including wards.†   (source)
  • Amanda was a lawyer, their hardest-nosed, most competent, most take-charge child.†   (source)
  • 'That's dubious, but I like to think I'm competent.†   (source)
  • Still, for his age he's remarkably competent.†   (source)
  • A queen needs a man who is older, more experienced, more competent to rule.†   (source)
  • But Missing never had a fully trained and competent surgeon till Stone.†   (source)
  • He had believed in Teleborian, who had, after all, seemed so …. so competent.†   (source)
  • I had believed, though you have countless flaws, you were, at least, a competent investigator.†   (source)
  • I felt sure that I could trust her motives, but what about her competence?†   (source)
  • " "No competent bandit would waste a bullet on you or Bol either," Augustus said.†   (source)
  • Her hands were light and competent on the wheel, her hair scooped back in its habitual braid.†   (source)
  • Any competent MT could close it in a matter of minutes.†   (source)
  • The young man worked swiftly, competently, as if he enjoyed it.†   (source)
  • She's familiar with the material and competent to decide where the boundaries lie.†   (source)
  • As of right now Dr. Ross's testimony is that Miss Cardinal is not competent.†   (source)
  • With one competent hand steering, she dug into the fries again.†   (source)
  • Lorena was competent--Tinkersley had taught her a little.†   (source)
  • He brooded over Faste and Modig, both competent detectives.†   (source)
  • I see now, you are not, any more than you are a competent friend to one who depended on you.†   (source)
  • Dr. Ross, how many stroke victims have you examined to determine whether they're mentally competent?†   (source)
  • But you are competent to say whether or not she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.†   (source)
  • Even with required department training, she was barely competent on manual.†   (source)
  • He's very experienced and doubtless one of the most competent news chiefs I've come across.†   (source)
  • A layman might take a perfectly competent picture of the tree, but it would be only that.†   (source)
  • And what is your expert opinion on her mental competence?†   (source)
  • He regarded himself as a competent amateur.†   (source)
  • He told me I'd find you competent, organized, and involved.†   (source)
  • My priority is that Salander should be acquitted and declared competent.†   (source)
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show 1 examples with meaning too rare to warrant focus
  • The instruments of transfer were drawn out: St. John, Diana, Mary, and I, each became possessed of a competency.   (source)
    competency = legal capability
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