competent (English) - Vocabulary & GRE App

competent

EN • English

//ˈkɒmpətənt//

Direct German Translations & Equivalents:

Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:

[DE]zuständig

Definitions & Usage

adjective

Having sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications.

Example: “He is a competent skier and an expert snowboarder.”

adjective

(law) Having jurisdiction or authority over a particular issue or question.

Example: “For any disagreements arising from this contract, the competent court shall be the Springfield Circuit Court.”

Example: “judicial authority having competent jurisdiction”

Translations:[DE]zuständig

adjective

Adequate for the purpose.

Example: “For if they [birds] had been Viviparous, the burthen of their womb, if they had brought forth any competent number at a time, had been ſo big and heavy, that their wings would have failed them, and ſo every body would have had the wit to catch the Old one.”

adjective

(biology, medicine, of an organ, tissue, or system) Functionally in order; functioning adequately.

Example: “a competent sphincter; a competent cervix; a competent immune system”

adjective

(biology, of a cell wall) Permeable to foreign DNA.

adjective

(geology) Resistant to deformation or flow.

Notable Literary & Historical Quotes

“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:

“The purpose of sharing these accounts – particularly during Women’s History Month – is to show that women, like men, can grow from bumbling neophytes to competent leaders.”

— 2019 March 17, Swanee Hunt, “My career: From bumbling neophyte to pioneering diplomat”, in CNN, archived from the original on 16 May 2024: