English Reference
Adjective

answerable

adj.
C1 Advanced US /ˈænsɝəbəɫ/ UK /ˈɑːnsəɹəbəl/ an·swer·able

adj.responsible for something or someone. You use this when you must explain your actions or take the blame for a mistake.

adj.responsible for or in charge of something; accountable for one's actions. Often used in legal or formal contexts to describe a person's duty to justify their conduct.


SIMPLE

The manager is answerable for the mistakes in the report.

CONTEXTUAL

The board of directors holds the CEO answerable for the company's financial performance during the fiscal year.

COMPLEX

In a democratic society, every elected official is answerable to the electorate, regardless of the specific policies they choose to implement during their term in office.

Students are answerable to the people who read, evaluate or rely on their work.

Phys.org· 19 Aug 2026

Arday may have had questions to answer; that did not make black academics collectively answerable for him.

The Guardian· 17 Aug 2026

From answer + -able.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated