responsible
Pluralresponsibles
- 1Having the job of looking after something, and having to answer for what happens.
Like being the team captain who must answer for how the game goes.
The babysitter is responsible for the children until their parents return.
Each driver is responsible for any damage they cause.
UsageUse for: responsible for the children.
Similaraccountable, answerable, liable
Note
- 2Being the main cause of something, so you get the blame or the praise for it.
Like the one domino that knocks all the others down.
A faulty wire was responsible for the fire.
She is responsible for the team's recent success.
UsageUse for: a faulty wire was responsible for the fire. It is most often about blame.
Similarculpable
Note
- 3Sensible and good at doing the right thing, so other people can trust you.
Like a friend who always shows up when they say they will.
She is a responsible student who always finishes her homework.
We need a responsible person to look after the keys.
UsageIt says what a person is like: a responsible adult, responsible with money.
Less common meanings
- 4Involving important duties and a need to answer for the work.
Like being trusted to carry something fragile that everyone is counting on.
She was given a responsible job at the bank.
Managing the budget is a very responsible role.
UsageAbout jobs: a responsible job has important duties, but a responsible person can be trusted.
Similarimportant
Note
- 5Old enough and clear-minded enough to know right from wrong, and so answerable for what you do.
Like being old enough to be trusted to make your own choices.
Doctors said he was fully responsible when he committed the crime.
Children that young are not yet responsible for their actions.
UsageOften in not responsible for your actions, or fully responsible.
Similaraccountable, competent, rational, sane
- 6Having to answer to someone above you, like a boss.
Like a player who must answer to the coach.
The new clerk is responsible to the office manager.
Each team leader is responsible to the director above them.
UsageUse to for the boss you answer to: responsible to the manager.
Similaraccountable, answerable
- 7The person who must answer for something that happens or is done.
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 HarlequinHere, responsibles means the people who are to blame and must answer for it.Note
- 8An actor who plays smaller parts in a theater company that regularly alternates between different plays.
'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
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of responsible apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Middle French and Old French responsable/responsible, which trace back to Latin respondere. In English you can see it as response plus -ible.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The word comes through Middle French and Old French responsable/responsible, ultimately from Latin respondere. en.wiktionary.org
- The English word can be analysed superficially as response plus -ible. en.wiktionary.org