noun
1 being responsible
ADJECTIVE
▪ complete , full , total
▪ awesome , big , enormous , grave , great , heavy , huge , important , serious , tremendous , weighty
▪
It is a great ~ caring for other people's children.
▪ direct
▪ primary
▪ overall , ultimate
▪
Ultimate ~ rests with the president.
▪ special
▪ diminished ( law , esp. BrE )
▪
He was found not guilty of murder on the grounds of diminished ~.
▪ exclusive , sole
▪ collective , communal , joint , mutual , shared
▪ individual , personal
▪ corporate
▪ criminal
▪ security
▪ constitutional , political
▪ environmental , ethical , financial , fiscal , legal , moral , social
VERB + RESPONSIBILITY
▪ have
▪
She has ~ for public spending.
▪ accept , acknowledge , assume , bear , carry , recognize , shoulder , take , take on , take over
▪
The bank refuses to accept ~ for the mistake.
▪
Will you take ~ for arranging the food?
▪ feel
▪
He feels a ~ to his community.
▪ share
▪ lay , place
▪
The government of the time placed ~ for the poor on the Church.
▪ assign , delegate , devolve , give sb , hand over
▪
Responsibility is devolved down to the people who are affected.
▪ retain
▪
We retain all ~ for any shortcomings.
▪ abdicate , escape , evade , shift
▪
They wanted to shift ~ for the failure onto their employees.
▪ admit , claim
▪
No organization has yet claimed ~ for the bomb attack.
▪ deny , disclaim , duck
▪
Ducking ~ is fatal in a democracy.
▪ allocate , assign (sb) , give sb
▪ attribute
▪
He attributed ~ for the killing to the secret service.
▪ burden sb with
▪ absolve sb from , absolve sb of
RESPONSIBILITY + VERB
▪ fall on sb , fall to sb , lie with sb , rest with sb
▪ come with sth
▪
With great power comes great ~.
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ for
▪
Full ~ for the fiasco lies with the PR department.
▪ ~ towards/toward
▪
He feels a strong sense of ~ towards/toward his parents.
PHRASES
▪ the age of criminal ~ ( BrE , law )
▪ the burden of ~
▪
Governors carry a special burden of ~.
▪ do sth on your own ~ (= without being told to and being willing to take the blame if it goes wrong)
▪ a position of ~
▪ a feeling of ~ , a sense of ~
2 job/duty
ADJECTIVE
▪ heavy , major , onerous
▪ basic , fundamental
▪ added , additional , increased
▪ main
▪
What are the main responsibilities in your job?
▪ departmental , ministerial ( BrE ), professional , public , teaching
▪ caring ( esp. BrE ), childcare , domestic , family , household , parental , public , social
▪ fiduciary ( esp. AmE ), financial
▪ administrative , command , management , managerial , oversight ( AmE ), supervisory
▪
The sergeant assumed his command responsibilities.
▪ adult
▪
people on the verge of assuming adult responsibilities
▪ contractual , statutory
▪ particular , special
▪ daily , day-to-day
VERB + RESPONSIBILITY
▪ have
▪ carry out , discharge , fulfil/fulfill , meet
▪
an obligation to meet family responsibilities
▪ accept , face up to , take on , undertake
▪
He seems unwilling to face up to his responsibilities as a father.
▪
I don't feel ready to take on new responsibilities.
▪ juggle
▪
She juggled the competing responsibilities of family and work.
▪ handle
▪
The assistants were handling their responsibilities in the only way they could.
▪ exercise
▪ delegate , relinquish , transfer
▪ abandon , avoid , escape , evade , neglect , shirk
▪ relieve sb of
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ for
▪
The heads of school departments have particular responsibilities for the curriculum.
▪ ~ to , ~ towards/toward
▪
The club has a ~ to its members.
PHRASES
▪ duties and responsibilities , rights and responsibilities
▪
parental rights and responsibilities