1
as in responsible
being the one who must meet an obligation or suffer the consequences for failing to do so you are answerable for your own conduct at all times

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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How does the adjective answerable contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of answerable are accountable, amenable, liable, and responsible. While all these words mean "subject to being held to account," answerable suggests a relation between one having a moral or legal obligation and a court or other authority charged with oversight of its observance.

an intelligence agency answerable to Congress

Where would accountable be a reasonable alternative to answerable?

The synonyms accountable and answerable are sometimes interchangeable, but accountable suggests imminence of retribution for unfulfilled trust or violated obligation.

elected officials are accountable to the voters

How do amenable and liable relate to one another, in the sense of answerable?

Both amenable and liable stress the fact of subjection to review, censure, or control by a designated authority under certain conditions.

laws are amenable to judicial review
not liable for the debts of the former spouse

When can responsible be used instead of answerable?

The meanings of responsible and answerable largely overlap; however, responsible implies holding a specific office, duty, or trust.

the bureau responsible for revenue collection

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of answerable Like every member of the General Assembly, Stewart essentially is an independent contractor answerable to the voters, not an employee who can be fired or have their pay docked by the House leadership. Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 17 May 2025 But all of this avoids the challenges of a magical realism where questions about the purpose of poetry, theater, political resistance, life and legacy are answerable only by dying. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025 How to clean jewelry, then, should be an easily answerable and well-attended to question within your fashion vocabulary. Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 25 Apr. 2025 The question is answered and unanswered and answerable and unanswerable. Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for answerable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for answerable
Adjective
  • While the statue itself would be paid for by the people of France, the Americans would be responsible for its prodigious base.
    Mo Rocca July 6, CBS News, 6 July 2025
  • The association will be responsible for all costs, according to the agreement.
    Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 6 July 2025
Adjective
  • The president was also found liable for defaming Carroll over her allegations.
    Sonam Sheth, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
  • According to her July 2025 report to the UN Human Rights Council, Albanese claimed the U.S. may be ‘liable for the international crime of aggression’ for President Trump's strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.
    Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 9 July 2025
Adjective
  • The value here is easy to see; had there been no incentive, those projects might not have been feasible at all.
    Roger Valdez, Forbes.com, 4 July 2025
  • The company says the structures are dangerous and saving them is not feasible.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2025
Adjective
  • In the gut, soluble fiber mixes with water to form a gel-like substance.
    Amber J. Tresca, Verywell Health, 9 July 2025
  • Research shows that soluble fiber, especially, can nourish the microbes that keep your intestines functioning normally.
    Mara Santilli, SELF, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • Jason Ritter plays Julian’s scenes in this episode with raw emotion, making the character’s choices more explicable, if not entirely forgivable.
    Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025
  • An extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, and is therefore attributed to a divine agency?
    Tim Spiers, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • In this framing, Earth’s challenges become just another set of engineering problems, solvable by recreating terrestrial conditions elsewhere.
    Dr. Alex Gold, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
  • Traditional startups often begin with a market gap, but AI ventures require a deeper layer of validation: Is the problem solvable with AI?
    Rohit Anabheri, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Answerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/answerable. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.

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