How to Use competence in a Sentence

competence

noun
  • He trusts in the competence of his doctor.
  • On the road, there’s a sense of calm competence.
    — New Atlas, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Still, the script has a crude competence.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
  • And my point on this, Jon, is this goes to competence.
    — ABC News, 22 Mar. 2026
  • That said, at this point my competence is much eroded by time.
    — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 27 May 2023
  • There was no neglect, no lack of competence, but this was like a war zone.
    — Chris Joyner, ajc, 26 Mar. 2020
  • Biden has since done both, and handled both with competence and aplomb.
    — Steve Chapman Chicago Tribune, Star Tribune, 6 May 2021
  • She’s been moved into a role that doesn’t use her competence.
    — Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
  • The second is competence of the team.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The competence penalty was more than twice as large for women.
    — Michelle Travis, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Where passion meets competence is where the rubber hits the road.
    — Emmett Lindner, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2022
  • At the next mass shooting, act with competence, not cowardice.
    — Fabiola Santiago, miamiherald, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Miller is a river guide whose air of competence is laced with a rebellious streak.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 14 May 2026
  • No one can accuse this Court of having a crabbed view of the reach of its competence.
    — WSJ, 27 June 2019
  • Virginia and Joy could go toe-to-toe in terms of competence and resolve.
    — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2022
  • Doctors tend to have strong views about their own competence and other doctors’ lack of it.
    — Kyle Clark and Andrew George, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2018
  • Being mayor, in the end, is a role that rewards competence above all.
    — Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Your own efforts and competence can bring you recognition in your own right, too.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive.com, 31 July 2019
  • But for all its whiz-bang gadgetry and funky looks, its dynamic competence falls flat.
    — David Dewhurst, Car and Driver, 7 May 2023
  • But humans dwarf the competence of a dolphin or a chimpanzee.
    — Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The author’s French improves along with his competence at his job.
    — Benjamin Shull, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
  • And in order to do that, based on what clear, distinctive competence?
    — Big Think, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Kamikawa isn’t the most charismatic figure, but she is praised for her competence and courage.
    — Ian Bremmer, TIME, 23 May 2024
  • The season will start with some faint glimmer of competence; maybe a record of 5-3.
    — Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 7 Sep. 2022
  • If this movie feels like Wiseau leapt to a near-passable level of competence, don’t be alarmed.
    — Trevor Fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, 1 June 2018
  • These findings are not due to a lack of competence on the part of female economists.
    — Kim Elsesser, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2022
  • But many of these new recruits lack the competence and the experience of the dead ones.
    — Mkhaimar Abusada, The Conversation, 5 Oct. 2025
  • The mismatch wasn’t about competence.
    — Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
  • The best way to address turnover is by having a hands on leader who sets a high standard of competence.
    — Samuel Stern, Sun Sentinel, 19 July 2024
  • And now she's created this problem for herself out of a sheer lack of competence.
    — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 25 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'competence.' 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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