responsibility

American  

[ri-spon-suh-bil-i-tee] / rɪˌspɒn səˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

• responsibilities
  plural

1. 

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

   Synonyms:

   accountability, answerability

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.

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idioms

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

   He changed the order on his own responsibility.

responsibility British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonresponsibility
  noun
• preresponsibility
  noun
• self-responsibility
  noun
• superresponsibility
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• responsibilities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of responsibility

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

Explanation

A responsibility is something you're required to do as an upstanding member of a community. If you're in a band, it's your responsibility to learn the songs and show up to practice on time. Responsibility comes from the Latin responsus, which means "to respond." There are actually a few different definitions of the noun. It can be another word for "trustworthiness," as in, "He demonstrated his responsibility by showing up to practice on time." And it can be used to describe the social force that motivates us to take on individual responsibilities, as in, "A sense of responsibility drove him to memorize all of the songs."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

responsibility responsibilities

“We’re learning as we go,” she said about the responsibility of shouldering these physical manifestations of people’s hearts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Jupp will have responsibility for about 4,500 staff, and also serve as a member of the BBC's executive committee.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Responsibility for security in Israel was fragmented, and the lines of responsibility weren’t always clear, it found.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The pilot Smit Machchhar embodied the "highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life", the UAE official said in a post on X.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

The first is ‘a person who has responsibility for or looks after something.’

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

In his resignation statement, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada insisted "the Department carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol."

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

This debate turns on several questions, including what constitutes a disability under ADA, what responsibilities businesses should shoulder and how the U.S. regulates fragrances.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

It is also thought a change of job title would not preclude Venter from his contractual responsibilities.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Waldron has said that starting his career at a smaller firm enabled him to take on bigger responsibilities and be more entrepreneurial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The responsibilities I’ve felt—to Sasha and Malia, to Barack, to my career and my country—have shifted in ways that allow me to think differently about what comes next.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

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