Word.ws English Dictionary

onus

/ˈəʊnəs//ˈoʊnəs/

onus noun: a legal obligation.

Noun (1)

onus (countable and uncountable, plural onuses or onera)

  1. A legal obligation.
    • The onus is on the landlord to make sure the walls are protected from mildew.
  2. Burden of proof, onus probandi.
    • The argument is founded on a principle which is now acknowledged to be universal; and the onus of disproof must lie with those who may be bold enough to take up the position that a region exists where at last the Principle of Continuity fails.1883, Henry Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual World
  3. Stigma.
    • Geraldine evades the onus of ambition by subordinating it to the service of her family, and escapes the onus of sexuality by bodily mutilation1993, Dorothy Mermin, Godiva's Ride: Women of Letters in England, 1830-1880, page 19
  4. Blame.
    • He'll always bear the onus of having caused the accident.
    • ... what might be called "onus-shifting" — each side trying to make a record and place blame on the other for the division of Europe and the Cold War itself.1977, Daniel Yergin, Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State, page 6
  5. Responsibility; burden.
    • The onus is on those who disagree with my proposal to explain why.
    • The onus is on you to make the first move.

Noun (2) capitalized: ONUs

ONUs

  1. (plural) plural of ONU

onus meaning in Marathi

onus in Marathi

responsibility, burden
ओझे ojhe, भार bhār

Examples of onus in a sentence

  • The onus isn't on us to produce something great every time.2000, Beatles with Brian Roylance, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, The Beatles Anthology, page 174:
  • This throws the onus on freight operators' train planners to devise ingenious solutions to finding new paths.2023 September 6, Anthony Lambert, “Train paths: more space for freight?”, in RAIL, number 991, page 34:
  • And now you’re a defender, a lot of onus is on the defender, right?”2024 December 2, David Close, “Houston Texans head coach defends Azeez Al-Shaair as the NFL leans toward suspending the linebacker, source...

Forms of onus

pluralonuses
pluralonera
alternative formoweness

Plural of onus: onuses or onera

Origin of onus

Learned borrowing from Latin onus (literally “burden”).

Phrases with onus

Words that rhyme with onus

Questions about onus

What does onus mean?
Onus means a legal obligation.
What is onus in Marathi?
Onus in Marathi is ओझे (ojhe), भार (bhār). See Onus meaning in Marathi.
How do you use onus in a sentence?
The onus isn't on us to produce something great every time.
What part of speech is onus?
Onus is a noun.
How do you pronounce onus?
Onus is pronounced /ˈəʊnəs/ (UK).
What is the plural of onus?
The plural of onus is onuses.

Words near onus in the dictionary

  1. Onuoha
  2. Onuohas
  3. onuphid
  4. onuphids
  5. Onuphrius
  6. onus
  7. onus probandi
  8. onuses
  9. onward
  10. onward and upward
  11. onwarded

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: onus (page history and authors); ONUs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-onus.wav, En-us-onus.oga.

Cite this entry: “onus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/onus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.