responsible
Pluralresponsibles
- 1Having a duty to take care of something and being answerable for an act or its consequences, especially in law or politics.
As site manager, she is responsible for every safety decision on the project.
Company directors are held legally responsible for the firm's debts.
UsageName the duty with for: responsible for the children, for a decision.
Similaraccountable, answerable, liable
Note
The core sense, and the history shows in it. The word comes through Old French responsable from Latin respondere, "to answer," so being responsible means being answerable.
- 2Being a primary cause of a situation or action, and therefore open to blame or credit for it.
Investigators concluded that human error was responsible for the crash.
A single mutation is responsible for the plant's bright red color.
UsageTakes for the result, and a thing can be the subject: an error responsible for the crash. Most often it assigns blame.
Similarculpable
Note
Here the word means causing something, not being charged with it. Daniel Taylor, reporting in 2018, calls the goalkeeper Karius responsible for Madrid's other two goals. Karius was there to stop those goals; his errors instead produced them.
- 3Sensible and able to be trusted to act well, showing good judgment and care in what one does.
They hired a responsible contractor with a long record of finished projects.
Voters wanted a responsible leader who would keep their promises.
UsageDescribes character: a responsible adult; to name the area, use with: responsible with money.
Less common meanings
- 4Involving important duties and a degree of personal accountability for the person who holds the role.
The role of treasurer is highly responsible and demands careful bookkeeping.
She took on a responsible position overseeing the entire department.
UsageUsually before the noun: a responsible position, job or role. A responsible job is weighty; a responsible worker is trustworthy.
Similarimportant
Note
This sense describes a job, not a person. A responsible position carries real duties and accountability, whatever the character of the person in it.
- 5Capable of rational thought and conduct, and therefore morally accountable for one's actions.
The defense argued that the accused was not mentally responsible at the time.
Most legal systems treat adults as fully responsible for their conduct.
UsageOften with fully or not: not responsible for his actions, fully responsible at the time.
Similaraccountable, competent, rational, sane
- 6Required to answer to a superior for one's actions or decisions.
The agency is responsible to Congress for how public money is spent.
As deputy, she is responsible to the chief executive for daily operations.
UsageTo names who you answer to, for what you answer for: responsible to Congress for spending.
Similaraccountable, answerable
- 7The person who bears the responsibility for a matter and must answer for it.
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 HarlequinNote
An archaic noun made by treating the adjective as a person, with the plural responsibles. The Harlequin of 1899 still writes of hanging "the responsibles as traitors." Today the noun sounds old-fashioned or foreign. The natural modern phrasing keeps the adjective after its noun: the person responsible, those responsible.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Responsible has an archaic personal noun sense corresponding to the adjective, with the plural responsibles. en.wiktionary.org
- The Harlequin contains the quoted wording in 1899. en.wiktionary.org
- 8An actor who takes on the lesser roles in a repertory theater company.
'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
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Origin
This word comes from Middle French responsable and Old French responsable/responsible, built from the root of Latin responsus, from respondere. The English spelling follows the Old French variant responsible, and by surface analysis it can be read as response + -ible.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The word comes through Middle French responsable and Old French responsable/responsible. en.wiktionary.org
- The French forms derive from the root of Latin responsus, from respondere. en.wiktionary.org
- The English spelling follows the Old French variant responsible. en.wiktionary.org
- The English word can be analysed superficially as response + -ible. en.wiktionary.org