onus
Americannoun
-
onuses
plural
-
a difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc.
- Synonyms:
- load, duty, weight, responsibility
-
burden of proof.
-
blame or responsibility.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of onus
1630–40; < Latin: load, burden
Explanation
Take the noun, onus, as a formal word for responsibility or obligation. If your teacher assigns onus as a vocabulary word, it puts the onus on you to find out what it means. Onus is a formal or sophisticated way to say "responsibility" or "duty." It sounds a little like the unrelated word owner, so think about the person with onus as owner of the responsibility. If the onus is on you to organize a fund raiser, you have to set the whole thing up. Have you ever heard the legal term onus probandi? It means the burden of proof, which requires the accuser to prove the case against the accused.
Vocabulary lists containing onus
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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The Freedom Writers Diary
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Lifting as We Climb
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yamamoto’s early exit put the onus on the Dodgers’ bullpen in a back-and-forth contest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Given the dire state of the justice system in Haiti, the onus has been on US prosecutors to bring the detainees to Florida to try the cases there.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
The startup is putting the onus on providing local teams of so-called forward-deployed engineers, who help integrate its AI tools into workflows, often operating at customer sites around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The onus is on the family to prepare.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Under the Sabotage Law, the onus was on the defense to prove the accused innocent.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
People have a lot of motives for accusing other people of stuff, particularly on campuses where there are not any particular onuses on making an accusation or repercussions.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2017
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
