responsibility
the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.
an instance of being responsible: The responsibility for this mess is yours!
a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible: the responsibilities of authority.
a person or thing for which one is responsible: A child is a responsibility to their parents.
reliability or dependability, especially in meeting debts or payments.
Idioms about responsibility
on one's own responsibility, on one's own initiative or authority: He changed the order on his own responsibility.
Origin of responsibility
1Other words for responsibility
Other words from responsibility
- non·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural non·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.
- pre·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural pre·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.
- self-re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun
- su·per·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural su·per·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use responsibility in a sentence
She wants the great tonic cure of self-reliance and self-responsibility.
Home Rule | Harold SpenderAs Ursula passed from girlhood towards womanhood, gradually the cloud of self-responsibility gathered upon her.
The Rainbow | D. H. (David Herbert) LawrenceBelieving in the dignity of self-responsibility, he could not assume the burden of Julia's discouragement.
Narcissus | Evelyn Scott
British Dictionary definitions for responsibility
/ (rɪˌspɒnsəˈbɪlɪtɪ) /
the state or position of being responsible
a person or thing for which one is responsible
the ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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