RESPONSIBLE | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of responsible in English responsibleadjective uk /rɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/ us /rɪˈspɑːn.sə.bəl/

responsible adjective (DUTY)

 be responsible for someone/something/doing something Add to word list Add to word list B1 to have control and authority over something or someone and the duty of taking care of it, him, or her: Paul is directly responsible for the efficient running of the office. Her department is responsible for overseeing the councils.

• The city council is responsible for keeping the streets clean.
• Our practice is responsible for about five thousand patients in this part of Leeds.
• Council employees are responsible for the upkeep of the gardens.
• The Forestry Commission is responsible for preserving over 2 million acres of woodland.
• Nurseries are responsible for the children in their care.

 be responsible to someone/something to be controlled by someone or something: In Australia, the prime minister and the Cabinet are responsible to the House of Representatives. Duty, obligation and responsibility

• accountable
• accountable to someone
• accountably
• answer for something phrasal verb
• bind
• buck
• dual role
• duty
• duty of care
• fall to someone phrasal verb
• fiefdom
• not my circus, not my monkeys idiom
• obligated
• obligation
• obligatorily
• obligatory
• owe
• preserve
• saddle
• someone's answer to someone/something idiom

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Being based on or depending on something

responsible adjective (BLAME)

 be responsible for something/doing something B2 to be the person who caused something to happen, especially something bad: Who is responsible for this terrible mess? Last month's bad weather was responsible for the crop failure. to make something happen

• causeFirefighters determined that a campfire spark caused the wildfire.
• bring aboutMany illnesses are brought about by poor diet and lack of exercise.
• result inThe fire resulted in damage to their house.
• lead toReducing speed limits has led to fewer deaths on the motorways.
• makeThe heat is making me tired.
• arouseIt's a subject that has aroused a lot of interest.

See more results » be to blame for something

• be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.
• be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
• be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
• be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the attacks.
• the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
• the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which has confused people with conflicting health messages

See more results »

• The company claims (that) it is not responsible for the pollution in the river.
• To some extent, she was responsible for the accident.
• Those responsible for these crimes must be brought to court and punished.
• The car is responsible for causing a lot of damage to our environment.
• The police seem certain (that) they will find the people responsible for the attack.

 hold someone/something responsible to blame someone or something: He held me personally responsible whenever anything went wrong in the project. to blame someone for something

• blameHe blamed his wife for the error.
• lay the blame onThe bridge's architect was quick to lay the blame on the engineers.
• pin the blame onNo one should be looking to pin the blame on others.
• apportion blameWhen a company fails it isn't always possible to apportion blame.
• hold someone responsibleIf anything goes wrong, I will hold you responsible.
• take the blameIf we fail, I'll take the blame.

See more results »  be responsible for your actions to be in control of yourself so that you can fairly be blamed for your bad actions: The defendant was depressed and therefore not fully responsible for her own actions. Guilty

• admission of guilt
• answerable
• blameworthy
• blood
• convict
• convicted
• conviction
• culpable
• fingerprint
• guilt
• guiltiness
• guilty
• guilty as charged idiom
• have (someone's) blood on your hands idiom
• plead guilty
• prove someone guilty
• reconvict
• reconviction
• someone's fingerprints are all over something idiom
• suspect

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Innocent

responsible adjective (GOOD JUDGMENT)

B2 having good judgment and the ability to act correctly and make decisions on your own: a hard-working and responsible employee Let's stay calm and try to behave like responsible adults. Many big companies are now becoming more responsible about the way they operate. Opposite irresponsible B2 A responsible job or position involves making important decisions or doing important things.

• He's grown into a fine, responsible young man.
• He seemed to be a responsible person, so I left him to his own devices.
• The company is currently trying to burnish its socially responsible image.
• The company is regarded as an extremely responsible employer.
• They were looking for someone responsible enough to be left alone with the children.

Wise and sensible

• be a victory for common sense idiom
• cannily
• canny
• clear-headed
• clear-headedly
• it doesn't hurt/never hurts to do something idiom
• judicious
• judiciously
• level-headed
• long-sightedness
• reasonable
• reasonableness
• reasoned
• responsibility
• responsibly
• to be wise after the event idiom
• victory
• well advised
• wily
• wisdom

See more results »

Related word

responsibly (Definition of responsible from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

responsible | American Dictionary

responsibleadjective us /rɪˈspɑn·sə·bəl/

responsible adjective (DUTY)

Add to word list Add to word list having the duty of taking care of something: The government’s Energy Regulatory Board is responsible for nuclear safety. A responsible job/position is an important one involving control and authority over something.

responsible adjective (BLAME)

being the cause of a particular action or situation, esp. a harmful or unpleasant one: We are not responsible for things getting lost in the mail.

responsible adjective (GOOD JUDGMENT)

having good judgment and the ability to act correctly and make decisions on your own: We want to be responsible citizens. (Definition of responsible from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

responsible | Business English

responsibleadjective uk /rɪˈspɒnsəbl/ us Add to word list Add to word list used to describe something, for example, a job, where you are able to act and make decisions on your own: It's a responsible job for which I've been well rewarded.  be responsible for sb/sth to have control and authority over someone or something and the duty to take care of them: He is responsible for the council's waste management department. to make something happen, especially something bad: She was responsible for causing the accident.  be responsible to sb/sth to be controlled by someone or something: Only our elected representatives, responsible to us, can make these big decisions.  hold sb/sth responsible to blame someone or something for something bad that happened: He was held responsible for the accident.  be responsible for your actions to be able to be fairly blamed for bad things that you do or mistakes that you make: Although he was ill at the time, he was still responsible for his actions. (Definition of responsible from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of responsible

responsible The author is responsible for the accuracy of quotations, tabular matter and references. From the Cambridge English Corpus First, because we should deal with resources in a responsible, sustainable manner. From the Cambridge English Corpus Several reasons might be responsible for the students' failure to benefit from the availability of multiple sources of information. From the Cambridge English Corpus What is at stake is the extent to which technology was responsible for the suffering of these communities. From the Cambridge English Corpus As shown in the design decomposition, the drive equipment specialist is responsible for selection and (optionally) assembly of the drive train components. From the Cambridge English Corpus In his view, language may be and frequently is the main culprit responsible for human tragedy. From the Cambridge English Corpus Authors are responsible for ensuring that the necessary equipment is available. From the Cambridge English Corpus The three men were knowledgeable, responsible, and hard-working, but what stands out even more is the intensity of their commitment to the search. From the Cambridge English Corpus Treating primary care clinicians remained responsible for all pharmacotherapy decisions. From the Cambridge English Corpus Departments would on longer be responsible for delivering those services identified as suitable for delivery at arm's length. From the Cambridge English Corpus Since 1990, municipalities became teachers' employers and organisers of school activities, and became responsible for allocating resources to schools. From the Cambridge English Corpus The prediction is that people have a capacity for ideological learning from the results achieved by responsible political actors of various ideological denominations. From the Cambridge English Corpus Currently, we cannot determine which process (if not both) is the one responsible for the thermalization. From the Cambridge English Corpus Since all groups repeated the target question only once, differences in production cannot be responsible. From the Cambridge English Corpus Sampling problems could therefore be partly responsible for the lack of effects observed in some cases. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of responsible These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of responsible?

Translations of responsible

in Chinese (Traditional) 責任, 責怪, 好的判斷力… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 责任, 责怪, 好的判断力… See more in Spanish responsable, de responsabilidad, responsable [masculine-feminine… See more in Portuguese responsável, de responsabilidade… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian जबाबदार, जबाबदारीचे, जबाबदारीचे काम किंवा हुद्दा ज्यात महत्वाचे निर्णय घ्यावे लागतात किंवा महत्वाच्या गोष्टी कराव्या लागतात.… See more 責任がある, 義務を負った, （~の）原因となる… See more güvenilir, sorumluluk duygusu taşıyan, sorumluluk gerektiren… See more responsable, à responsabilités, responsable de… See more encarregat, responsable, de responsabilitat… See more verantwoordelijk… See more நல்ல தீர்ப்பு மற்றும் சரியாக செயல்படும் திறன் மற்றும் சொந்தமாக முடிவுகளை எடுக்கும் திறன், ஒரு பொறுப்பான வேலை அல்லது நிலை முக்கியமான முடிவுகளை எடுப்பது அல்லது முக்கியமான விஷயங்களைச் செய்வது ஆகியவை அடங்கும்.… See more ज़िम्मेवार, विवेकी एवं सही निर्णय लेने वाला, उत्तरदायी… See more જવાબદાર, સમજદાર અને યોગ્ય નિર્ણય લેનાર… See more ansvarlig, ansvarsfuld, skyld i… See more ansvarig, ansvarsfull, skyldig… See more menguruskan, tanggungjawab yang besar, bertanggungjawab… See more verantwortlich, schuld, zuverlässig… See more ansvarlig, ansvarsfull, ansvarlig (for)… See more ذمہ دار اور دیانت دار شخص, ذمہ داری کا کام… See more відповідальний… See more మంచి విచక్షణ, సరిగ్గా వ్యవహరించే సామర్థ్యం, సొంతంగా నిర్ణయాలు తీసుకోవటం అనే లక్షణాలు కలిగి ఉండే… See more দায়িত্বশীল, দায়িত্বপূর্ণ কাজ বা পদ… See more odpovědný, odpovědný (za), spolehlivý… See more bertanggung jawab, penuh tanggung jawab, menyadari… See more เป็นภาระหน้าที่, ที่ต้องรับผิดชอบ, รับผิดชอบ… See more có trách nhiệm, quan trọng, chịu trách nhiệm… See more odpowiedzialny, winny… See more -을 책임 지고 있는, -의 책임이 있는, 책임감 있는… See more responsabile, fidato, di responsabilità… See more Need a translator?

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More meanings of responsible

• socially responsible
• socially responsible investment
• hold someone responsible for something/doing something

See all meanings

Word of the Day

shrinking violet

UK /ˌʃrɪŋ.kɪŋ ˈvaɪə.lət/ US /ˌʃrɪŋ.kɪŋ ˈvaɪə.lət/

a person who is very shy or modest and does not like to attract attention

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• English   
  • Adjective 
    • responsible (DUTY)
    • be responsible for someone/something/doing something
    • be responsible to someone/something
    • responsible (BLAME)
    • be responsible for something/doing something
    • hold someone/something responsible
    • be responsible for your actions
    • responsible (GOOD JUDGMENT)
• American   
  • Adjective 
    • responsible (DUTY)
    • responsible (BLAME)
    • responsible (GOOD JUDGMENT)
• Business   
  • Adjective 
    • responsible
    • be responsible for sb/sth
    • be responsible to sb/sth
    • hold sb/sth responsible
    • be responsible for your actions
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
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