ir ‧ re ‧ spon ‧ si ‧ ble /ˌɪrɪˈspɒnsəb ə l◂, ˌɪrɪˈspɒnsɪb ə l◂ $ -ˈspɑːn-/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ responsibility ≠ ↑ irresponsibility ; adverb : ↑ responsibly ≠ ↑ irresponsibly ; adjective : ↑ responsible ≠ ↑ irresponsible ]
doing careless things without thinking or worrying about the possible bad results OPP responsible
totally/highly/completely etc irresponsible
When it comes to money, Dan is completely irresponsible.
it is irresponsible (for somebody) to do something
It would be irresponsible not to turn up for work without calling.
It was highly irresponsible of him to leave the children on their own in the pool.
—irresponsibly adverb :
He was acting totally irresponsibly.
—irresponsibility /ˌɪrɪspɒnsəˈbɪləti, ˌɪrɪspɒnsɪˈbɪləti $ -spɑːn-/ noun [uncountable]
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THESAURUS
▪ careless not paying enough attention to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes, damage things etc:
I made a few careless mistakes.
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It was careless of you to leave your purse lying about.
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He started getting careless about taking his medication.
▪ clumsy often dropping or breaking things because you move around in a careless way:
I’m so clumsy, I spilt milk all over the floor.
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a clumsy child
▪ sloppy careless and lazy in the way you do your work or in your behaviour generally:
As a student, he was brilliant but sloppy.
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I will not tolerate sloppy work.
▪ reckless especially written doing dangerous or stupid things without thinking about your own or other people’s safety:
The driver of the car was arrested for reckless driving.
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His actions showed a reckless disregard for human life.
▪ irresponsible careless in a way that might affect other people, especially when you should be taking care of them:
It’s irresponsible for parents to let their children smoke.
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his irresponsible attitude to keeping animals
▪ tactless carelessly saying something that upsets or embarrasses someone, without intending to do this:
He kept making tactless remarks about her appearance.
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a tactless question
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I thought it would be tactless to ask about her divorce.
▪ casual not being careful enough about something and treating it as though it is not important:
He seems to have a very casual attitude towards his work.
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She disliked the casual way in which he made decisions affecting other people’s lives.
▪ negligent careless about something that you are responsible for, so that serious mistakes are made – used especially when someone will be officially punished for this:
The doctor was negligent in using the wrong type of needle.
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They found him guilty of negligent conduct.