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Glite Dictionary
to take responsibility

to take responsibility

324 3.3
To admit you caused a problem and accept the blame
  • phrasal verb
: asumir la responsabilidad
  • As a team leader, I always take responsibility for any mistakes my team makes.
  • take responsibility for one's own actions
  • take responsibility for actions
  • students take responsibility

So we have to take responsibility for what we eat as well.

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Examples

  • Number one, take responsibility for your bad choices.

    Ed Mylett

  • I am taking responsibility for my actions.

  • So we have to take responsibility for what we eat as well.

    ZOE

  • David, part of being a man is about taking responsibility.

    Courageous (2011)

  • Do you ever take responsibility for your actions?

    Pretenders (2021)

  • It's time to take responsibility.

    Fortress: Sniper's Eye (2022)

  • It's like you have to be willing to take responsibility for what you create essentially.

  • No one here is willing to take responsibility, so the task falls on you.

  • But you have to admire that desire to take responsibility for your life and make some changes.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • When you're an adult, you take responsibility for your life.

    Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2012)

Synonyms

to own it
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
62 7.0

Admit a fault or a personal quality and act confidently

accepts accountability without a confident or proud attitude usually
to take the fall
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
60 7.5

Accept blame or punishment, often instead of someone else

accepts blame or duty for actions personally rather than for others
to own up
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
39 4.4

Admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake

accepts blame or duty more broadly instead of only admitting an error
to own up to
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
32 4.2

To say you did something wrong or embarrassing

accepts blame generally rather than only confessing wrongdoing
to step up to the plate
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
28 4.6

To take responsibility and act when a difficult situation happens

accepts accountability or duty even without needing to act immediately
to make your bed and lie in it
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
1 7.0

To accept the bad results of your own choices

accepts blame or duty itself rather than only suffering consequences
to carry the can
vsto take responsibility
  • UK
1 7.9

To accept blame or responsibility that others refuse

accepts accountability or duty generally rather than only when others avoid blame
to take it upon oneself
vsto take responsibility
1 5.3

Decide to do something and accept responsibility without being asked

accepts accountability when expected or required rather than volunteering for it
to fall on one's sword
vsto take responsibility
  • Formal
8.4

To accept blame or quit a job to protect other people

accepts blame or duty without necessarily resigning or stepping down

Antonyms

to wash one's hands
  • Informal
6.3

Refuse to take the blame for a problem

How Responsible

to shoulder
31 4.6
to take responsibility
324 3.3
to own up
  • Informal
39 4.4
to wash one's hands
  • Informal
6.3

Surface Forms

take responsibility infinitive
taking responsibility present participle
takes responsibility third person singular
took responsibility past
taken responsibility past participle

Morphology

take + responsibility

The meaning 'to accept accountability' is directly and predictably composed from 'take' (to assume) + 'responsibility' (duty/ accountability). This verb + noun collocation follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., equivalents in Spanish, French, Japanese) and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Take responsibility comes from the image of someone stepping forward to pick up a heavy bag marked responsibility, because take is like picking up and holding a load. So, it means 'to accept blame or duty'.