ENGLISH
REFERENCE

irresponsible

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˌɪɹəˈspɑnsəbəɫ// UK //ɪɹɪspˈɒnsəbəl// ir·re·spon·si·ble Archaic

adj. not thinking about the results of your actions or how they might hurt others. You use this to describe someone who cannot be trusted to do the right thing.

adj. lacking a sense of accountability or failing to consider the consequences of one's actions. Often describes behavior that ignores social or moral obligations.


SIMPLE

It is irresponsible to leave a small child home alone.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager was fired for his irresponsible handling of the company's private financial data.

COMPLEX

While the immediate gains were significant, the board's decision to ignore environmental regulations was widely condemned as an irresponsible pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of the community.

Antonyms
Origin

From ir- + responsible.

Usage

Often followed by the 'to' infinitive or used to modify nouns related to behavior and decisions.

Pitfall

He is very unresponsible.He is very irresponsible.The correct negative prefix for 'responsible' is 'ir-', not 'un-'.

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