liability

American  

[lahy-uh-bil-i-tee] / ˌlaɪ əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

• liabilities
  plural

1. liabilities,

   1. Finance. moneys owed; debts or pecuniary obligations (opposed to assets).

   2. Accounting. liabilities as detailed on a balance sheet, especially in relation to assets and capital.

2. something disadvantageous.

   His lack of education is his biggest liability.

3. Also liableness the state or quality of being liable.

   liability to disease.

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liability British  

/ ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state of being liable

2. a financial obligation

3. a hindrance or disadvantage

4. likelihood or probability

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liability Cultural  

1. An obligation or debt.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonliability
  noun
• preliability
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• liabilities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of liability

First recorded in 1785–95; li(able) + -ability

Explanation

A liability is a debt or obligation or a personal flaw that stands in your way. A company's liabilities are simply the debts on its ledger, but a personal liability might be your extreme shyness in social situations. Depending on how you use it, the word liability has very different meanings. In a business or financial sense, a liability is a debt or fiscal obligation, like a mortgage or a loan. A limited liability company means if the company fails, the partners are on the hook for only what they initially invested in the company. A personal liability, however, is some element of your past, your character, or your behavior that might give you a disadvantage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

liability liabilities

The MoD, which did not accept liability, said action had been taken to "prevent similar issues arising in the future" and further use of the non-MoD training site had been prohibited.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The Associated Press reported that the agreement “does not include an admission of fault or liability but says the county has ended the program at issue and has no intention of reactivating it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Auto liability and medical claims may be closed without payment for a variety of reasons, including damage that falls below the deductible or an accident investigation that reveals those involved aren’t injured.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The latter could result in a significant tax liability for your mother-in-law’s five grandchildren.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

All we needed to do was sign a few simple documents, effectively clearing the festival organizers of any liability.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

FedEx has already received about $800 million in refunds, but has booked $749 million as liabilities owed back to customers whose tariff payments it can trace.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court said Hui and Evergrande entities had carried out sustained and large-scale financial fraud between 2016 and 2021 to inflate assets and hide liabilities, according to the report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande and Xu as its boss "violated national laws by engaging in continuous, large-scale financial fraud and other means to inflate assets and conceal liabilities", the court said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

It suggested ways to reduce the cost of wildfire liabilities, including by capping fees of attorneys representing victims and reducing payments to survivors for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Indeed, Dobzhansky recognized that natural variation was a vital reservoir for an organism—an asset that far outweighed its liabilities.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• damage
• inconvenience
• involvement
• loan
• mortgage
• obligation
• responsibility