I. -ˈspän(t)səbəl adjective
( sometimes -er/-est )
Etymology: Latin respons us (past participle of respondēre to answer, correspond) + English -ible — more at respond
1. obsolete : correspondent , accordant
2.
a. : likely to be called upon to answer
a man is responsible for his acts
b. : answerable as the primary cause, motive, or agent whether of evil or good : creditable or chargeable with the result — used with for
responsible for her injury
a committee responsible for assembling supplies
c. : liable or subject to legal review or in case of fault to penalties
a guardian is responsible to the court for his conduct in office
3.
a. : able to respond or answer for one's conduct and obligations : trustworthy in respect to financial or other matters
a responsible citizen
b. : of decent appearance : presentable
c.
(1) : having the character of a free moral agent : capable of determining one's own acts
(2) : capable of being deterred by consideration of sanctions or consequences
4. : involving responsibility : involving a degree of accountability
a responsible office
5. : politically answerable (as to a legislature or an electorate) ; especially : required to submit to the electorate if defeated by the legislature — used especially of the British cabinet
Synonyms:
answerable , accountable , amenable , liable : responsible may differ from answerable and accountable in centering attention on a formal organizational role, function, duty, or trust
while held responsible for the bank's operations, the president has powers considered largely nominal — Current Biography
chief of personnel for the New York Herald Tribune, where she is also responsible for special editorial work in the field of industrial relations — Current Biography
answerable is likely to be used in situations involving moral or legal obligation or duty under judgment
we must take heed, however, that we do not load their memory with infamy which of right belongs to their master. For the treaty of Dover the King himself is chiefly answerable — T.B.Macaulay
there was something ineradicably corrupt inside her for which her father was not answerable — E.K.Brown
accountable may be used in situations involving imminence of retribution for unfulfilled trust or violated obligation
the president is invested with certain important political powers, in the exercise of which he is to use his own discretion, and is accountable only to his country in his political character and to his own conscience — John Marshall
amenable may indicate the fact of subjection to review, judgment, or control by a higher agency
certain boats are sometimes not amenable to the rules of the right-of-way. A naval boat, for instance, on official business, may demand and take the right-of-way — H.A.Calahan
scholar and teacher alike ranked as clerks, free from lay responsibilities or the control of civil tribunals, and amenable only to the rule of the bishop and the sentence of his spiritual courts — J.R.Green
liable may indicate the fact of being legally answerable without making further indication or implication
judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law — U.S. Constitution
II. noun
( -s )
: one that accepts responsibility ; especially : an actor prepared to fill various important roles as occasion demands