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

It’s expressed through responsibility — to your producers, neighbors, and the place you call home.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

“The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Cabinet Office Minister Mark Ferguson said that businesses who secure government contracts "have a responsibility to give back".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

He added: "Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue."

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

He called the workers together and took responsibility for having sent them into the line of fire, saying his judgment was to blame.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

The Times, a longtime Mulholland booster, blamed “a faulty system which loads upon any man’s shoulders, no matter how broad, responsibilities that are too heavy for any man to bear.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The trade-offs for many parents are to either continue to work and pay — sometimes thousands of dollars a month — for childcare, or leave the workforce to take on caregiving responsibilities.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Instead of making her job easier, she says it created additional responsibilities.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

That schedule may be difficult for people with demanding jobs, family responsibilities, limited time, or restricted access to exercise facilities.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

The ship is made of millions of separate parts assembled redundantly, so that if some component fails, others will take over its responsibilities.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

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