responsible

re·spon·si·ble  (r-spns-bl)

adj.

1. Liable to be required to give account, as of one's actions or of the discharge of a duty or trust.

2. Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority: a responsible position within the firm.

3. Being a source or cause.

4. Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.

5. Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.

6. Based on or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking: responsible journalism.

7. Having the means to pay debts or fulfill obligations.

8. Required to render account; answerable: The cabinet is responsible to the parliament.

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[Obsolete French, corresponding to, from Latin respnsus, past participle of respondre, to respond; see respond.]

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re·sponsi·ble·ness n.

re·sponsi·bly adv.

Synonyms: responsible, answerable, liable, accountable, amenable
These adjectives share the meaning obliged to answer, as for one's actions, to an authority that may impose a penalty for failure. Responsible often implies the satisfactory performance of duties or the trustworthy care for or disposition of possessions: "I am responsible for the ship's safety" (Robert Louis Stevenson).
Answerable suggests a moral or legal responsibility subject to review by a higher authority: The court held the parents answerable for their minor child's acts of vandalism.
Liable may refer to a legal obligation, as to pay damages or to perform jury duty: Wage earners are liable to income tax.
Accountable especially emphasizes giving an account of one's discharge of a responsibility: "The liberal philosophy holds that enduring governments must be accountable to someone beside themselves" (Walter Lippmann).
Amenable implies being subject to the control of an authority and therefore the absence of complete autonomy: "There is no constitutional tribunal to which [the king] is amenable" (Alexander Hamilton). See Also Synonyms at reliable.

Usage Note: Some critics have maintained that responsible should not be used to describe things, since only persons can be held accountable. The application to things is justifiable, however, when responsible is used to mean "being the source or cause of." In an earlier survey, a majority of the Usage Panel accepted the sentence Faulty construction was responsible for the crash.

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responsible [rɪˈspɒnsəb^əl]

adj

1. (postpositive; usually foll by for) having control or authority (over)

2. (postpositive; foll by to) being accountable for one's actions and decisions (to) to be responsible to one's commanding officer

3. (of a position, duty, etc.) involving decision and accountability

4. (often foll by for) being the agent or cause (of some action) to be responsible for a mistake

5. able to take rational decisions without supervision; accountable for one's own actions a responsible adult

6. (Economics, Accounting & Finance / Banking & Finance) able to meet financial obligations; of sound credit

[from Latin rēsponsus, from rēspondēre to respond]

responsibleness  n

responsibly  adv

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	responsible - worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable; "a responsible adult"; "responsible journalism"; "a responsible position"; "the captain is responsible for the ship's safety"; "the cabinet is responsible to the parliament" obligated - caused by law or conscience to follow a certain course; "felt obligated to repay the kindness"; "was obligated to pay off the student loan" prudent - careful and sensible; marked by sound judgment; "a prudent manager"; "prudent rulers"; "prudent hesitation"; "more prudent to hide than to fight" trustworthy, trusty - worthy of trust or belief; "a trustworthy report"; "an experienced and trustworthy traveling companion" irresponsible - showing lack of care for consequences; "behaved like an irresponsible idiot"; "hasty and irresponsible action"
	2.	responsible - being the agent or cause; "determined who was the responsible party"; "termites were responsible for the damage" responsible for causative - producing an effect; "poverty as a causative factor in crime"
	3.	responsible - having an acceptable credit rating; "a responsible borrower" creditworthy trustworthy, trusty - worthy of trust or belief; "a trustworthy report"; "an experienced and trustworthy traveling companion"

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responsible

adjective

1. to blame, guilty, at fault, culpable, behind He felt responsible for her death.

2. in charge, in control, at the helm, in authority, carrying the can (informal) the minister responsible for the environment

3. accountable, subject, bound, liable, amenable, answerable, duty-bound, chargeable, under obligation I'm responsible to my board of directors.
accountable unaccountable

4. sensible, sound, adult, stable, mature, reliable, rational, sober, conscientious, dependable, trustworthy, level-headed He's a very responsible sort of person.
sensible irresponsible, unreliable, untrustworthy, undependable, unconscientious

5. authoritative, high, important, executive, decision-making demoted to less responsible jobs

Translations

responsible [rɪsˈpɒnsəbl] ADJ

1. (= accountable) → responsable
those responsible will be punished → se castigará a los responsables
who is responsible if anything goes wrong? → ¿quién es el responsable si algo sale mal?
to be responsible for sth: he is not responsible for his actions → no es responsable de sus actos
who is responsible for this? → ¿quién es el responsable de esto?
who was responsible for the delay? → ¿quién tiene la culpa del retraso?
to hold sb responsible for sth → hacer a algn responsable de algo → responsabilizar a algn de algo
to be responsible to sb (for sth) → ser responsable ante algn(de algo)

2. (= in charge of) to be responsible for sth/sb: the children were responsible for tidying their own rooms → los niños tenían la responsabilidad or eran responsables de ordenar sus habitaciones
she is responsible for 40 children → tiene a su cargo 40 niños
the secretary is responsible for taking the minutes → la secretaria se hace cargo de levantar el acta

3. (= sensible) [person] → serio, responsable; [behaviour, attitude] → responsable
to act in a responsible fashion → obrar de forma responsable or con responsabilidad
that wasn't very responsible of you! → ¡eso ha sido una falta de responsabilidad por tu parte!

4. (= important) [post, job] → de responsabilidad

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responsible [rɪˈspɒnsɪb^əl] adj

(= in charge) → responsable
to be responsible for sth (= in charge of) → être responsable de qch
the minister responsible for the environment → le ministre responsable de l'environnement
to be responsible for doing sth (= in charge of) → être responsable de faire qch
He is responsible for finding the volunteers → Il est responsable de trouver des volontaires.
He's responsible for booking the tickets
BUT Il est responsable de la réservation des billets.
The children were responsible for cleaning their own rooms
BUT Les enfants étaient responsables du nettoyage de leur chambre.
to be financially responsible for sb → être financièrement responsable de qn

(= to blame) → responsable
Try to find out who's responsible → Essayez de trouver qui est responsable.
to be responsible for sth (= to blame for) → être responsable de qch
The group was responsible for a wave of attacks → Le groupe était responsable d'une vague d'attentats.
to feel responsible for sth → se sentir responsable de qch

(= accountable) → responsable
to be responsible for sth (= accountable) → être responsable de qch
He isn't responsible for his behaviour → Il n'est pas responsable de ses actes.
to be responsible to sb → être responsable devant qn

(= reliable) [person, attitude] → responsable
You should be more responsible → Tu devrais être plus responsable.
He's a very responsible sort of person → C'est quelqu'un de très responsable.

[job, position] → à responsabilités
It's a responsible job → C'est un poste à responsabilités.
Being a doctor is a very responsible job → Être médecin comporte de nombreuses responsabilités.

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responsible

adj

(denoting cause) → verantwortlich; (= to blame) → schuld (→ for an +dat); bad workmanship was responsible for the failure → schlechte Arbeit war an dem Versagen schuld; what’s responsible for the hold-up? → woran liegt die Verzögerung?; who is responsible for breaking the window? → wer hat das Fenster eingeschlagen?

(= liable, answerable) → verantwortlich; she is not responsible for her actions → sie ist für ihre Handlungen nicht voll verantwortlich; to be responsible to somebody for something → jdm gegenüber für etw verantwortlich sein; to be directly responsible to somebody → jdm unmittelbar unterstellt sein; to hold somebody responsible for something → jdn für etw verantwortlich machen; she is responsible for popularizing the sport (her task) → es ist ihre Aufgabe or sie ist dafür verantwortlich, die Sportart populärer zu machen; (her merit) → es ist ihr zu verdanken, dass die Sportart populär geworden ist

(= trustworthy) person, attitude → verantwortungsbewusst; firm → seriös, zuverlässig

(= involving responsibility) job → verantwortungsvoll

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responsible [rɪˈspɒnsəbl] adj → responsabile; (trustworthy) → fidato/a
to be responsible for sth → essere responsabile di qc
to be responsible to sb (for sth) → dover rispondere a qn (di qc)
to hold sb responsible for → ritenere qn responsabile di
it's a responsible job → è un posto di responsabilità

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responsible [rɪˈspɒnsəbl] adj → responsabile; (trustworthy) → fidato/a
to be responsible for sth → essere responsabile di qc
to be responsible to sb (for sth) → dover rispondere a qn (di qc)
to hold sb responsible for → ritenere qn responsabile di
it's a responsible job → è un posto di responsabilità

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responsible → مسؤول odpovědný ansvarlig verantwortlich υπεύθυνος responsable vastuullinen responsable odgovoran responsabile 責任がある 책임이 있는 verantwoordelijk ansvarlig odpowiedzialny responsável ответственный ansvarig อย่างรับผิดชอบ sorumlu chịu trách nhiệm 负责的