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Glite Dictionary
to take responsibility

to take responsibility

193 3.3
To admit you caused a problem and accept the blame
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : 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 take the fall
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
55 7.5

Accept blame or punishment, often instead of someone else

accepts blame or duty for actions personally rather than for others
to own it
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
43 7.0

Admit a fault or a personal quality and act confidently

accepts accountability without a confident or proud attitude usually
to own up
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
38 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
33 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
32 4.6

To take responsibility and act when a difficult situation happens

accepts accountability or duty even without needing to act immediately
to take it upon oneself
vsto take responsibility
28 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
4 8.4

To accept blame or quit a job to protect other people

accepts blame or duty without necessarily resigning or stepping down
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 make your bed and lie in it
vsto take responsibility
  • Informal
7.0

To accept the bad results of your own choices

accepts blame or duty itself rather than only suffering consequences

Antonyms

to wash one's hands
  • Informal
3 6.3

Refuse to take the blame for a problem

How Responsible

to shoulder
30 4.6
to take responsibility
193 3.3
to own up
  • Informal
38 4.4
to wash one's hands
  • Informal
3 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'.