competently
adverb
competently is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T-L-Y: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, competently means “In a competent manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in competently?
| Letters | 11: C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is competently?
Competently appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce competently?
- US
Competently has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-competently.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of competently
- more competently comparative
- most competently superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does competently mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a competent manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Competently in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a competent manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avec compétence, de façon compétente |
| Portuguese | competentemente |
| Spanish | competentemente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does competently come from?
From competent + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).