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onus

onus

19 7.9
A difficult duty or burden someone must deal with
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊnəs/
  • Formal
translation icon : responsabilidad
  • I was hoping to spare you this onus a little while longer, but go inside.
  • place the onus
  • put the onus
  • onus on the employer

So I, I put the onus on to the writer there.

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Examples

  • And the onus is now on us, as youth, to revitalize that relationship that we have with our culture, language, traditions, and our environment.

  • Police officials say that the onus for prosecution rests with the Archaeology Department.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Will the Budget in November put the onus back?

  • The White House is taking the onus from government and putting it onto the person.

  • The onus is not on me.

  • The onus is on the scientist to prove himself.

  • News is more accessible than ever, but the onus is on the reader to find it.

    Blog text (13)
  • The onus falls on researchers to provide a deeper understanding of their social worlds.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Instead, the onus is unfairly placed on those with allergies to inform their service.

  • As the project leader, she felt the onus of responsibility to ensure everything went smoothly.

Synonyms

pressure
vsonus
3.1

A strong feeling of stress from difficult demands

is an assigned duty, not general external stress or urgent demands
obligation
vsonus
524 3.2

A duty you feel to do something because it is right or someone helped you

is the duty that also feels difficult and unpleasant to bear
burden
vsonus
482 3.4

A heavy load or something that causes worry and difficulty

is specifically a duty that feels unpleasant to bear
load
vsonus
91 4.1

A heavy burden of worry or responsibility

is a duty or responsibility that also feels hard and unpleasant
weight of the world
vsonus
  • Informal
13 7.3

A heavy feeling of worry and responsibility

is a duty that may be heavy but is less extreme and less emotional
millstone
vsonus
  • Informal
5 8.1

A heavy burden that makes life hard

is a general duty that can be unpleasant but not always lasting
weight of responsibility
vsonus
  • Informal
1 4.9

A heavy feeling of pressure because you have important duties

is the same duty sense but stresses unpleasantness rather than heaviness

Antonyms

489 1.1

Not having to do something a rule requires

444 3.7

A special right or advantage for certain people

How Burdensome

albatross
  • Informal
6 8.4
encumbrance
2 8.1
burden
482 3.4
onus
  • Formal
19 7.9
responsibility
2.7
duty
1.0

Surface Forms

onus singular
onuses plural
ona plural

Etymology

Onus comes from a Latin word onus that means 'burden' or 'load', so you can think of the onus as a heavy responsibility someone must carry. That's why onus today means a duty or unpleasant responsibility.