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Accountability and responsibility are often used almost interchangeably in everyday conversation. That may lead you to wonder if they’re synonymous or if there are acute differences between the two words.
There is a great deal of overlap between the two, but as with all words in the English language, there are different connotations when one word is used as opposed to another. The words do also have different definitions, with responsible having other definitions.
Generally, when accountability is raised, it refers to the person or organization that takes on the blame for something going wrong. This can vary from a project not being done on time to a person being injured or killed.
Responsibility, on the other hand, typically has to do with obligations. A particular task or duty is someone’s responsibility, and therefore it’s their obligation to take care of.
Key Takeaways:
| Accountability | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Is defined as “the quality or state of being accountable. Especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” | Responsibility is defined as “the quality or state of being responsible.” Such as “moral, legal, or mental accountability,” or “reliability, or trustworthiness.” Also, “something for which one is responsible, [a] burden.” |
| Accountability is often used when something goes wrong, and restitution needs to be made. There’s also an immediate aspect, implying that the restitution will be swift. | Responsibility is used both in terms of what someone is obligated to do and in terms of assigning blame when something goes wrong. |
| The -ability ending was added on accountable, which was taken from Middle English after being borrowed from Anglo-French. | It was formed from responsible by adding the -ibility ending to make it a noun. Responsible was taken from Anglo-French’s “responsable,” which was taken from “respuns.” It’s from the same root as response. |
| The first recorded usage of accountability was in 1750. Accountable’s first recorded usage was in the 15th century. | Responsibility’s first recorded usage was in 1771 in its first definition. |
What Is Accountability?
Accountability is defined as “the quality or state of being accountable” by Merriam-Webster, “especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” The term accountability is most often used when speaking of wrongdoing and finding out who the person is that should be punished or held to account.
If accountability is the state of being accountable, then what exactly does accountable mean? Well, it means “subject to giving an account: answerable” or “capable of being explained: explainable.” For the purpose of this article, the first definition is what we’re interested in, as that is the one that relates the most closely to responsibility.
You can get an idea of a word’s meaning by looking at its listed synonyms. In the case of accountable, they include amenable, answerable, liable, and responsible. This means that in most cases, responsibility and accountability can be used synonymously.
Accountability, however, does have a narrower focus than responsibility. It’s almost entirely focused on the answerable aspect, which is likely why it has the more negative connotations, as most of its usages are assigning blame – or pointing out those who dodge liability.
What Is Responsibility?
Responsibility is “the quality or state of being responsible.” This can be “moral, legal, or mental accountability,” or “ reliability, trustworthiness.” The term can also be used to describe “something for which one is responsible. [a] burden.”
As you can see, Merriam-Webster uses accountability in the definition of responsibility, showing how closely linked the meaning of the two words are.
So, if responsibility is the quality or state of being responsible, then what does it mean to be responsible? Responsible has more definitions than accountable does, though not all of them are directly related to the thrust of this article.
The definitions include “liable to be called on to answer,” or “liable to called to account as the primary cause, motive, or agent,” “being the cause or explanation” (that definition doesn’t particularly overlap with accountable), or “liable to league review or in cause of fault to penalties.” Lastly, it can also mean “politically answerable.”
To be responsible is also to be trustworthy or expected to be able to make good decisions. Accountable doesn’t branch out that far, so that part of responsible is unlikely to be confused with accountable.
Tips For When to Use Accountability and When to Use Responsibility
Due to the very similar definitions of the words, you can be both accountable and responsible. But the words are used differently, even beyond the fact that responsible has more meanings than accountable does.
You’re likely to say that you’re responsible for taking care of your dog, but you’re unlikely to say that you’re accountable for it. You can say that of course – it isn’t incorrect – but it does sound different to your listener.
Were you to say you’re accountable for taking care of your dog, most people would jump to the conclusion that there would be some sort of legal ramifications if you were to make a mistake, i.e., that you’d be held to account for it. Being responsible for something doesn’t have the same sort of official aspect to it.
In most usages, you’re responsible for doing something but accountable when something goes wrong. Responsibility is often shared, while accountability often isn’t. That’s not to say that one person can’t be responsible for something (they often are) and a group can’t be accountable for something (such as when a company is accountable), but it tends to boil down the other way.
Both words have the same list of synonyms: amenable, answerable, and liable. While amenable is often used in its meaning of being disposed favorably towards something, it can also mean answerable, and that’s the meaning that is synonymous with responsible and accountable.
Generally, in common usage, responsible is broader than accountable. It’s common enough to ask who’s responsible when something goes wrong – though accountable is also often used – it’s uncommon to ask who’s accountable for a task; it’d be who’s responsible.
In short, if you’re unsure, you can use responsible or responsibility, and it’ll be correct. If you want to be in line with common usage, accountable is about who is answerable to something, while responsible is about obligations.
However, the words overlap a fair amount – especially responsibility over accountability, meaning that you’re unlikely to make an error using responsibility.
Author
Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.
