answerable

[an-ser-uh-buhl, ahn-]

adjective

1. liable to be asked to give account; responsible.

   He is answerable to a committee for all his decisions.

2. capable of being answered.

   a question answerable by mail.

3. proportionate; correlative (usually followed byto ).

4. corresponding; suitable (usually followed byto ).

   The amount is not answerable to my needs.

answerable

/ ˈɑːnsərəbəl /

adjective

1. (postpositive; foll by for or to) responsible or accountable

   answerable for someone's safety

   answerable to one's boss

2. able to be answered

Other Word Forms

• answerability noun
• answerableness noun
• answerably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of answerable¹

First recorded in 1540–50; answer + -able

Example Sentences

The commissioner would be in charge of ensuring standards of care for victims and would answerable to parliament.

From BBC

Breyer left no stone unturned in detailing the president’s lawless deployment of troops and his plan to turn the military into a national police force answerable only to him.

From Salon

So, at Alpine, for example, he would ultimately be answerable to Renault's board.

From BBC

From Aden to Kuwait, a crescent of Arabian protectorates was governed from Delhi, overseen by the Indian Political Service, policed by Indian troops, and answerable to the Viceroy of India.

From BBC

But all of this avoids the challenges of a magical realism where questions about the purpose of poetry, theater, political resistance, life and legacy are answerable only by dying.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accountable 
• amenable 
• liable 
• obligated 
• obliged