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Competent vs Sympathetic - What's the difference?

competent | sympathetic |

As adjectives the difference between competent and sympathetic

is that competent is competent (able) while sympathetic is of, related to, showing, or characterized by sympathy.

competent

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Having sufficient skill, knowledge, ability, or qualifications.
    • He is a competent skier and an expert snowboarder.
  • (legal) Having jurisdiction or authority over a particular issue or question.
    • For any disagreements arising from this contract, the competent court shall be the Springfield Circuit Court.
    judicial authority having competent jurisdiction
  • Adequate for the purpose
  • * 1662 , , Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 67:
    • "For if [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 "

    Quotations

    * "I believe in that myself because it has been explained by competent men as the convolutions of the grey matter." - James Joyce, Ulysses , 1922 * "That as a competent keyless citizen he had proceeded energetically from the unknown to the known through the incertitude of the void." - James Joyce, Ulysses , 1922

    Related terms

    * competence * compete * competition * competentness

    sympathetic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * sympathetick (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of, related to, showing, or characterized by sympathy.
    • John looked very upset. I gave him a sympathetic look.
  • Of or relating to similarity.
    • Sympathetic magic is based on imitation or correspondence.

    Antonyms

    * unsympathetic

    Derived terms

    * parasympathetic nervous system * sympathetic nervous system