Competent
Competent adjective - Having the required skills for an acceptable level of performance.
Usage example: any competent mechanic should be able to fix that
New
New adjective - Taking the place of one that came before.
Both words in one sentence
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This often implies that the new villain is more competent, more evil, or for whatever other reason more threatening, but not necessarily.
Source: Make Way for the New Villains - In Team Yankee, the new LT in the tank company is this in spades until the first shots of World War III are fired and he becomes competent under fire.
Source: Ensign Newbie - Caesar in Fallout: New Vegas is rare strain of this trope as he's not only competent, but the game's Big Bad; he's just not as competent as he thinks he is.
Source: Smug Snake / Video Games
Cite this Source
New and Competent. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/competent/new
Competent & New. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/competent/new>.
New or Competent. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/competent/new.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "competent" and "new" have occurred on timeline