DictionaryAI

accountable

adjective
uh-KOWN-tuh-buhl/əˈkaʊntəbl̩/

4 meanings of accountable

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Required to answer for one's actions or decisions when someone calls upon you to do so.

    Elected officials remain accountable to the voters who put them in office.

    She held herself accountable for the failure and apologized to the whole department.

    Similaranswerable, responsible, liable

    Oppositeunaccountable

    Note

    The word is built plainly from account + -able and has been in use since around 1400. Its grammar works as a pair of prepositions. One is accountable to a person or body, such as God, the voters or a government, and accountable for an act or result, such as one's conduct. Held accountable is the everyday passive frame, as in being held accountable for one's misdemeanors.

  2. 2
    adjective
    Subject to being formally summoned and required to give a full account of one's conduct.

    Trustees are accountable and may be summoned at any time to render a full account of the estate.

    As project lead, he is accountable and can be called before the board to explain progress.

    Similaranswerable, liable, responsible

  3. 3
    adjective
    Required to keep accurate records of the property or funds entrusted to one's care.

    The fund's custodian is accountable for maintaining precise records of every transaction.

    Quartermasters are accountable for the equipment they sign out and must log it accurately.

    Similarresponsible, answerable, liable

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    adjectiverare
    Able to be explained or accounted for; having a discoverable cause or reason.

    Most of the missing time was accountable once they checked the security logs.

    True religion . . . intelligible, rational, and accountable, -- not a burden but a privilege.
    1703, Benjamin Whichcote, Moral and Religious Aphorisms

    Similarexplicable, explainable, understandable

    Oppositeinexplicable, unaccountable, unexplainable

    Note

    Here the -able points the other way: not a person who must give an account, but a fact that can be given one. Benjamin Whichcote's Moral and Religious Aphorisms (1703) sets it beside intelligible and rational to praise true religion. The sense is rare now, and most readers will hear the "answerable" meaning first. When clarity matters, explicable or explainable is the safer choice.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of accountable apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

First attested around 1400, formed from "account" plus the suffix "-able".