responsible

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɹɪˈspɑn.sə.bəl/ UK /ɹɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #1369

Meanings

1

adj
In charge of something and expected to deal with it.

She is responsible for training the new staff.
2

adj
Being the cause of something, so deserving blame or credit.

Who is responsible for this mess?
3

adj
Sensible and able to be trusted.

He's a responsible young man who always keeps his promises.
4

adj
Involving important duties and accountability.

She was promoted to a responsible position in the company.

Thesaurus

Opposites

irresponsible

Word family

Derived forms co-responsibleeco-responsibleirresponsibility irresponsiblenonresponsibleresponsibilityresponsibilizeresponsibleness responsiblysemiresponsiblesuperresponsibleunresponsible

Related forms irresponsible respond response responsibility responsibleness responsibly

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

responsible party
The person or organization that caused or carried out a particular action or event.

Adjective + noun
directly responsible
personally accountable for an action or result without an intervening responsible party

Adverb + adjective
officially responsible
formally assigned the duty to manage or answer for something

Adverb + adjective
personally responsible
individually accountable for an action, outcome, or duty

Adverb + adjective
contractually responsible
required by an agreement to carry out a duty or accept responsibility

Adverb + adjective

Proverbs (1)

See all

You are responsible for you

Etymology

From Middle French responsable, from Old French responsable, responsible, formed from the root of Latin responsus, from respondere. The spelling of the English word is taken from the Old French variant responsible. By surface analysis, response + -ible.

responsable Middle French responsus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# responsible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɹɪˈspɑn.sə.bəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ɹɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/
**Frequency rank:** 1369

## Meanings
1. In charge of something and expected to deal with it.
2. Being the cause of something, so deserving blame or credit.
3. Sensible and able to be trusted.
4. Involving important duties and accountability.

## Examples
- She is responsible for training the new staff.
- Who is responsible for this mess?
- He's a responsible young man who always keeps his promises.
- She was promoted to a responsible position in the company.

## Antonyms
- irresponsible

## Derived Forms
- co-responsible
- eco-responsible
- irresponsibility
- irresponsible
- nonresponsible
- responsibility
- responsibilize
- responsibleness
- responsibly
- semiresponsible
- superresponsible
- unresponsible

## Related Forms
- irresponsible
- respond
- response
- responsibility
- responsibleness
- responsibly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: responsable
- Root: responsus
- Affix: -ible - able to be

## Etymology
From Middle French responsable, from Old French responsable, responsible, formed from the root of Latin responsus, from respondere. The spelling of the English word is taken from the Old French variant responsible. By surface analysis, response + -ible.

## AI Etymology
Responsible comes from Middle French responsable, from Old French responsable, responsible, formed from the root of Latin responsus, from respondere. The spelling of the English word is taken from the Old French variant responsible. By surface analysis, response + -ible. Modern senses include in charge of something and expected to deal with it. and being the cause of something, so deserving blame or credit.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as co-responsible, eco-responsible, irresponsibility, irresponsible, nonresponsible, and responsibility and related forms such as irresponsible, respond, response, and responsibility.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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