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noun being responsible ADJ. full, total | awesome, great, heavy, weighty It is a great responsibility looking after other people's children. | direct | overall | primary | ultimate Ultimate responsibility rests with the prime minister. | special | diminished He was found not guilty of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. | sole | collective, joint, shared | individual, personal | ministerial, parental | financial, legal, moral, social VERB + RESPONSIBILITY have She has responsibility for public transport. | accept, assume, bear, shoulder, take (on/over) The bank refuses to accept responsibility for the mistake. Will you take responsibility for arranging the food? | share | lay, place The government of the time placed responsibility for the poor on the Church. | delegate, devolve, hand over devolving responsibility downwards so decisions are taken nearer to the people they will affect | abdicate, evade, shirk, shift to shift legal responsibility for the correct labelling of goods onto the shopkeeper | admit, claim No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the bomb attack. | deny, disclaim, duck Ducking responsibility is fatal in a democracy. | allocate, assign (sb), give sb | attribute He attributed responsibility for the killing to the secret service. | burden sb with | absolve sb from/of RESPONSIBILITY + VERB fall on sb, lie/rest with sb PREP. ~ for Full responsibility for the fiasco lies with the PR department. | ~ towards He feels a strong sense of responsibility towards his parents. PHRASES the age of criminal responsibility, the burden of responsibility The school governors carry a special burden of responsibility. | do sth on your own responsibility (= without being told to and being willing to take the blame if it goes wrong), a position of responsibility, a sense of responsibility job/duty ADJ. heavy, onerous | additional, increased | altered | caring, departmental, domestic, family, financial, managerial, ministerial, parental, professional, teaching | contractual, statutory | particular, special VERB + RESPONSIBILITY have | carry out, discharge, fulfil | 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. | delegate | avoid, evade, shirk | relieve sb of PREP. ~ for The heads of school departments have particular responsibilities for the curriculum. | ~ to/towards The club has a responsibility to its members. PHRASES duties and responsibilities, rights and responsibilities parental rights and responsibilities
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responsibility verbs have responsibility for (doing) something • The Council has responsibility for maintaining the streetlights. take responsibility for (doing) something • Who do you trust to take responsibility for our country's defence? take on responsibility ( also assume responsibility formal ) (= start to have responsibility for something ) • These days men tend to take on more responsibility at home. • The government must assume greater responsibility for the care of the elderly. shoulder responsibility (= agree to start having a difficult or unpleasant duty ) • The city, she said, would shoulder responsibility for caring for the children. shirk responsibility (= not accept a duty you should accept ) • He doesn't shirk responsibility. exercise responsibility formal (= take action because you have responsibility for something ) • The citizens of ancient Athens met here to exercise their responsibility to govern themselves. abdicate responsibility formal (= refuse to have responsibility for something you used to have responsibility for ) • The state should not allow parents to abdicate responsibility for their children. the responsibility lies with somebody (= they are responsible for it ) • Ultimate responsibility for admissions lies with the Course Co-ordinator. adjectives personal responsibility • So far, no one had taken personal responsibility for the project. overall responsibility • The Department of Education has overall responsibility for schools and universities. direct responsibility (= when no other person is involved ) • He has direct responsibility for all the programmes on Radio 1. sole responsibility (= not shared with others ) • The financial director has sole responsibility for financial matters. collective responsibility (= shared equally by a group of people ) • Head teachers should encourage a sense of collective responsibility among teachers. primary responsibility (= most important responsibility ) • I have primary responsibility for the children. ultimate responsibility (= responsibility for making a final decision ) • The National Assembly will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that health targets are met. phrases a burden of responsibility (= a lot of responsibility, that worries you ) • Being the only wage earner put a great burden of responsibility on my father. a position of responsibility (= a job in which people depend on you to tell them what they should do ) • Before the age of 21 he had attained a position of responsibility in the factory. responsibility 2 verbs accept/take responsibility for something • To his credit, he took responsibility for his actions. claim responsibility (for something) (= say that you are responsible for something bad ) • No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings. deny responsibility for something • The company denied responsibility for the oil spillage. bear responsibility for something (= be responsible for something bad ) • Developed countries must bear much of the responsibility for environmental problems. adjectives full responsibility • The airline accepted full responsibility for the crash. personal responsibility • I take personal responsibility for what went wrong.