responsibility

[ ri-spon-suh-bil-i-tee ]

noun

, plural re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.

1. the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.

   Synonyms: answerability, accountability

2. an instance of being responsible:

   The responsibility for this mess is yours!

3. a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible:

   the responsibilities of authority.

4. a person or thing for which one is responsible:

   A child is a responsibility to their parents.

5. reliability or dependability, especially in meeting debts or payments.

responsibility

/ rɪˌspɒnsəˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or position of being responsible
2. a person or thing for which one is responsible
3. the ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision

Other Words From

• non·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty noun plural nonresponsibilities
• pre·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty noun plural preresponsibilities
• self-re·spon·si·bil·i·ty noun
• su·per·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty noun plural superresponsibilities

Word History and Origins

Origin of responsibility¹

First recorded in 1780–90; respons(ible) + -ibility

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on one's own responsibility, on one's own initiative or authority:

   He changed the order on his own responsibility.

Example Sentences

We knew we had a huge responsibility to help our customers communicate at a time when everything about communication had changed.

From Vox

There’s also the added responsibility of dealing with stimulus-payment problems.

From Washington Post

“We don’t delegate tasks to people, we delegate responsibility — everyone knows what they’re responsible for and can be autonomous in how, when and where they deliver that work,” he said.

From Digiday

Briefly, she thought about asking her parents to co-sign, but Walston said that would feel like another failure of her responsibility to take care of her daughter.

From Washington Post

I was young and I didn’t have a lot of home responsibilities.

From Ozy

What responsibility was taken by cops when they kill unjustly?

From The Daily Beast

For anything to work, including law itself, there must be ample room for individual responsibility.

From The Daily Beast

Law has been rebuilt in the last 50 years to be an instrument of control, not a framework for human responsibility.

From The Daily Beast

Nothing will work sensibly, or fairly, until human responsibility is restored as the activating force for all public choices.

From The Daily Beast

After all, how could someone struggling to take care of himself be expected to take responsibility for others?

From The Daily Beast

It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her.

From Project Gutenberg

Let us go back to the capital, and the responsibility shall fall on my shoulders alone.'

From Project Gutenberg

He gave orders, on his own responsibility, that Black Sheep was not to go to school or open a book until Mamma came home.

From Project Gutenberg

It may be, of course, that the responsibility was thrown on the lady in order to restrain the hand of the incensed king.

From Project Gutenberg

On him, and on him alone, falls the crushing onus of responsibility: to be a Corps Commander is child's play in that comparison.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• authority
• burden
• duty
• guilt
• importance
• liability
• obligation
• power
• restraint
• trust