responsible
Having to take care of something or make sure something happens.
Having a duty to deal with something or having control over someone or something.
Causing something to happen, especially something bad.
Being the person or thing that caused something to happen, especially something bad.
Behaving in a careful and sensible way; doing what is right.
Able to be trusted to behave sensibly and make good decisions.
- Base: responsible
- Comparative: responsibler
- Superlative: responsiblest
be responsible to someone
3answerable to someone in authority
To have to explain your actions to someone who has authority over you.
- As a department head, you are responsible to the company president.
- Teachers are responsible to the school board.
hold someone responsible
2consider someone at fault or accountable
To say that someone must answer for something bad or wrong that happened.
- The police held him responsible for the accident.
- Parents can be held responsible for their children's actions.
take responsibility
1accept duty or blame
To agree that you are the one who must do something or who caused something bad.
- She took responsibility for completing the report on time.
- He needs to take responsibility for his mistakes.