Synonyms for responsibility
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Duty — A duty, obligation or liability for which someone is held accountable
duty, obligation, accountability, liability, commitment, accountableness rare
Other
care, trust, guilt, purview, remit, look-out, province, indemnity, responsibleness rare, amenability rare
Definitions
- n. 1
A duty, obligation or liability for which someone is held accountable.
Why didn't you clean the house? That was your responsibility!
- n. 2
The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable.
Responsibility is a heavy burden.
Related words
- Word family
- respond
- Phrases
- diminished responsibility
Forms
- Plural
- responsibilities → duties, obligations, accountabilities, liabilities…
Choose the right word
Etymologically, duty is that which is owed or due; obligation, that to or by which one is bound; right, that which is correct, straight, or in the direct line of truth and goodness; responsibility, that for which one must answer.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- duty You must do your duty, whether you like it or not.
- liability He denies any liability for the damage caused.
- obligation It is the obligation of every worker to pay taxes.
- accountability You need to take accountability for what you did.
- trust Trust people, but don't take candy from strangers.
- guilt The fingerprints on the knife attest to her guilt.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| responsibility | falling | |
| duty | falling | |
| liability | steady | |
| obligation | steady | |
| accountability | rising | |
| trust | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- care1, duty2
- 5 letters
- place1, trust1, guilt1, remit2
- 6 letters
- charge1, charre
- 7 letters
- purview2
- 8 letters
- province2
- 9 letters
- liability5, indemnity4
- 10 letters
- commitment3, obligation4
- 11 letters
- amenability
- 14 letters
- accountability6
- 15 letters
- accountableness, responsibleness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (duty2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- responsabilité
- Italiano
- responsabilità
- Español
- responsabilidad
- Deutsch
- Verantwortung
- Català
- responsabilitat