responsible, liable

形容詞 responsible:

1. worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable
2. being the agent or cause
   同義詞：responsible for
3. having an acceptable credit rating
   同義詞：creditworthy

1. Our teacher is a very responsible person.
   我們的老師是一個(gè)非?？煽康娜?。
2. She holds a very responsible position in the firm.
   她在公司里身居要職。
3. Who's responsible for the terrible mess?
   誰(shuí)應(yīng)該對(duì)這種混亂負(fù)責(zé)？

re.spon.si.ble

adj.（形容詞）
Liable to be required to give account, as of one`s actions or of the discharge of a duty or trust.
負(fù)責(zé)的，有責(zé)任的：易于被要求作出陳述的，如要求對(duì)自己的行為或責(zé)任或職責(zé)的履行
Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority:
責(zé)任重大的：有關(guān)個(gè)人負(fù)有的責(zé)任或無(wú)需指導(dǎo)或上級(jí)監(jiān)督的行動(dòng)的能力的：
例句：
a responsible position within the company.
公司中的重要職位

Being a source or cause.
作為根源或原因的
Able to make moral or rational decisions on one`s own and therefore answerable for one`s behavior.
有責(zé)任感的，對(duì)自己負(fù)責(zé)的：能夠全靠自己做出道德或理性的決定并因而能對(duì)其行為負(fù)責(zé)的
Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.
可信賴的：能被信任或依賴的；可靠的
Based on or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking:
合理的，能明辨是非的：基于或以良好的判斷或合理的思考為特征的：
例句：
responsible journalism.
明辨是非的新聞界

Having the means to pay debts or fulfill obligations.
有能力履行的，有償債能力的：具有還債或履行義務(wù)的手段的
Required to render account; answerable:
有責(zé)任答復(fù)的：需要作出交代的；應(yīng)負(fù)責(zé)的：
例句：
The cabinet is responsible to the parliament.
內(nèi)閣對(duì)國(guó)會(huì)有應(yīng)答義務(wù)

來(lái)源：
Obsolete French [corresponding to]
已廢法語(yǔ) [與…一致的]
from Latin respônsus [past participle of] respondôre [to respond] * see respond
源自 拉丁語(yǔ) respônsus [] respondôre的過(guò)去分詞 [反應(yīng)] *參見 respond

【引伸】
respon.sibleness
n.（名詞）
respon.sibly
adv.（副詞）
<參考詞匯><同義詞>responsible,answerable,liable,accountable,amenableThese adjectives share the meaning obliged to answer, as for one`s actions, to an authority that may impose a penalty for failure.
這些形容詞的共有意思是有義務(wù)對(duì)可能懲罰失誤的當(dāng)權(quán)者作出答復(fù)的，如對(duì)自己的行為。
Responsible often implies the satisfactory performance of duties, the adequate discharge of obligations, or the trustworthy care for or disposition of possessions:
Responsible 常意指滿意地履行義務(wù)、充分地行使職責(zé)或?qū)ζ渌形锟煽康恼樟匣蛱幹茫?
例句：
.I am responsible for the ship`s safety. (Robert Louis Stevenson).
.我對(duì)輪船的安全負(fù)責(zé). （羅伯特·路易斯·史蒂芬森）。

例句：
.The people had given him his command, and to the people alone he was responsible. (J.A. Froude).
.人民已給了他管理的權(quán)利，所以他對(duì)人民負(fù)責(zé). (J.A.弗勞德）。

Answerable suggests a moral or legal responsibility subject to review by a higher authority:
Answerable 指接受高一級(jí)權(quán)威評(píng)判的道德或法律的責(zé)任：
例句：
The court held the parents answerable for their minor child`s acts of vandalism.
法庭要求父母對(duì)于其未成年孩子惡意破壞文物的行為負(fù)責(zé)。

Liable may refer to a legal obligation, as to pay damages, or to a responsibility to do something,as to perform jury duty, if called on:
Liable 可指如賠償損壞物等法律義務(wù)或指做某事的責(zé)任，如受召履行陪審員職責(zé)：
例句：
Wage earners are liable to income tax.
勞動(dòng)者應(yīng)交納所得稅。

例句：
During the war men between the ages of 8 and 35 were liable for military conscription.
在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間十八至三十五歲的男人都應(yīng)服兵役。

Accountable especially emphasizes the requirement to give an account of one`s discharge of a responsibility entrusted to one:
Accountable 尤強(qiáng)調(diào)對(duì)委托給某人的職責(zé)的執(zhí)行情況作出交代：
例句：
.The liberal philosophy holds that enduring governments must be accountable to someone beside themselves;that a government responsible only to its own conscience is not for long tolerable. (Walter Lippmann).
.自由派哲學(xué)認(rèn)為長(zhǎng)久的政府必須對(duì)除自己以外的他人負(fù)責(zé)；一個(gè)僅對(duì)自己良心負(fù)責(zé)的政府是不能持久的. （沃爾特·李普曼）。

Amenable implies the condition of being subject to the control of an authority and therefore the absence of complete autonomy:
Amenable 指受當(dāng)權(quán)者的控制，因而缺乏完全的自主權(quán)的狀況：
例句：
.The sovereign of this country is not amenable to any form of trial. (Letters of Junius).See also Synonyms at reliable
.這個(gè)國(guó)家的主權(quán)不受任何形式審判的支配. （朱尼厄斯的信）參見同義詞 reliable

Some critics have maintained thatresponsible should not be used to describe things, since only persons can be held accountable.The application to things is justifiable, however, whenresponsible is used to mean .being the source or cause of.. In an earlier survey,a majority of the Usage Panel accepted the sentence
一些批評(píng)家堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為responsible 不應(yīng)用于描述事物， 因?yàn)橹挥腥瞬拍茇?fù)擔(dān)責(zé)任。但是當(dāng)responsible 被用來(lái)表示.歸因于….的意思時(shí)，用它敘述事物是合理的。 在更早期的調(diào)查中，用法專題小組中的大部分成員都接受句子
例句：
Faulty construction was responsible for the crash. ·
建筑的倒塌應(yīng)歸因于低劣的施工。

In recent years,many people have objected to the use of the phraseclaim responsibility with reference to the authors of terrorist acts, as inA small separatist group claimed responsibility for the explosion, in which 30 passengers were killed. It is true that the phrase is not entirely felicitous,in as much as it does not convey the speaker`s conviction that the action is deplorable.But alternatives such asadmit or take the blame cannot be recommended either, since they would imply misleadingly that the instigators had themselves acknowledged that the action was wrongful.
近年來(lái)，許多人反對(duì)使用與恐怖主義活動(dòng)制造者相關(guān)的詞組claim responsibility ， 如一小撮分離主義者聲稱對(duì)那次致使30位旅客喪生的爆炸負(fù)責(zé) 。 這個(gè)詞組確實(shí)是不得體的，因?yàn)樗鼪](méi)有表達(dá)說(shuō)話者對(duì)悲慘行為的譴責(zé)。但也不能推薦如admit 和 take the blame 等替代詞， 因?yàn)樗鼈兛赡苁谷苏`導(dǎo)以為煽動(dòng)者自己也承認(rèn)行動(dòng)是錯(cuò)誤的