responsible
UK/ɹɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl//ɹɪˈspɑn.sə.bəl/
responsible adjective: having the duty of taking care of something; answerable for an act performed or for its consequences; accountable; amenable, especially legally or politically.
Adjective
responsible (comparative more responsible, superlative most responsible)
- Having the duty of taking care of something; answerable for an act performed or for its consequences; accountable; amenable, especially legally or politically.
- Parents are responsible for their child's behaviour.
- Being a primary cause of a situation or action and thus able to be blamed or credited for it.
- Who is responsible for this mess?
- […]Karius was a danger to his own team, responsible for Madrid’s two other goals and last seen wandering aimlessly around the pitch – alone, distraught and clearly traumatised – to ask forgiveness, hands clasped, from the thousands of Liverpool supporters.2018 May 26, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)
- Answerable to (a superior).
- Involving important duties; involving a degree of personal accountability on the part of the person concerned.
- She has a responsible position in the firm.
- Having good judgment in decision-making.
- But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87
- Able to be trusted; reliable; trustworthy.
- He looks like a responsible guy.
- Capable of rational conduct and thus morally accountable for one's behavior.
Noun
responsible (plural responsibles)
- The person who bears the responsibility for something.
- Were this not so, long since would we have traced directly home the responsibility for the war on Freedom in the Philippines. Long since, would we have hanged the responsibles as traitors to our country.1899, The Harlequin, volume 1, page 12
- An actor taking on the lesser roles in repertory theatre.
- […] first appeared on August Bank Holiday, 1901, at Grand Theatre, Llandudno, playing "responsibles" with Edward Compton; […]1907, The Green Room Book; Or, Who's Who on the Stage, page 9
- 'Well, the Cardinal is the heavy part, isn't it?' 'I know.' 'Then,' said I, 'you'd better go'; and one of the Responsibles took it on, and was perfect on the night.1926, Arthur Machen, Dreads and Drolls
responsible meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
responsible in Hindi
- answerable for an act performed or for its consequences
- उत्तरदायी uttardāyī, ज़िम्मेदार zimmedār
- being a primary cause or agent of some event or action
- उत्तरदायी uttardāyī
- involving a degree of personal accountability
- उत्तरदायी uttardāyī
- able to be trusted
- विश्वसनीय viśvasnīya
responsible in Tamil
- கரணியாக, பொறுப்புள்ள
responsible in Marathi
- responsible, accountable, answerable
- उत्तरदायी uttardāyī
- responsible, accountable, liable, answerable
- जबाबदार j̈abābdār
- responsible, causative, accountable
- कारणीभूत kāraṇībhūta
- responsible; having a sense of responsibility and acting conscientiously
- जबाबदार j̈abābdār
responsible in Urdu
- answerable for an act performed or for its consequences
- ذمہ دار zimme-dār
More languagesFewer languages
- responsible in Bengali
- দায়ী daẏi
- responsible in Telugu
- బాధ్యతాయుతమైన, బాధ్యతాయుతమైనవి
- responsible in Malayalam
- ഉത്തരവാദിത്വമുളള, ചുമതലയുളള, സമാധാനം പറയേണ്ടിവരുന്ന
- responsible in Kannada
- ನಂಬಬಲ್ಲ, ಹೊಣೆಯಾದ, ಹೊಣೆಯರಿತ, ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರನಾದ
- responsible in Punjabi
- ਉੱਤਰਦਾਈ uttardāī
- responsible in Gujarati
- જવાબદાર
- responsible in Odia
- ଦାଯ଼ିତ୍ୱବାନ
- responsible in Sanskrit
- दायिनी dāyinī
- responsible in Nepali
- जिम्मेवार
- responsible in Pashto
- مسؤل masúl, ذمه دار zemadār
- responsible in Tagalog
- mapanagutin
- responsible in Arabic
- مَسْؤُول masʔūl, مَسْئُول masʔūl, مُلام mulām
- responsible in Malay
- bertanggungjawab
- responsible in Indonesian
- bertanggung jawab
- responsible in Persian
- مسئول mas'ul, ذمهدار zemme-dâr, جوابدار javâbdâr
- responsible in Thai
- รับผิดชอบ ráp-pìt-chɔ̂ɔp
- responsible in Vietnamese
- có trách nhiệm
Examples of responsible in a sentence
- I hope they catch the person responsible for that heinous crime.
- The geologists were responsible for keeping the work within the mill.
- He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.
Antonyms of responsible
Forms of responsible
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more responsible |
| superlative | most responsible |
| Noun | |
| plural | responsibles |
Origin of responsible
From Middle French responsable, from Old French responsable, responsible, formed from the root of Latin responsus, from respondeō, respondēre. The spelling of the English word is taken from the Old French variant responsible. By surface analysis, response + -ible.
Words formed from responsible
Questions about responsible
- What does responsible mean?
- Responsible means having the duty of taking care of something; answerable for an act performed or for its consequences; accountable; amenable, especially legally or politically.
- What is responsible in Hindi?
- Responsible in Hindi is उत्तरदायी (uttardāyī), ज़िम्मेदार (zimmedār), विश्वसनीय (viśvasnīya). See Responsible meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is responsible?
- Responsible can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce responsible?
- Responsible is pronounced /ɹɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/ (UK).
Words near responsible in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: responsible (page history and authors); responsible (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); उत्तरदायी (Marathi) (page history and authors); responsible (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); responsible (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); responsible (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਉੱਤਰਦਾਈ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); responsible (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); responsible (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); दायिनी (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); responsible (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-responsible.ogg.
Cite this entry: “responsible.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/responsible. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.