liability

1 a feature of someone or something that creates difficulty for achieving success a retired football player whose chief asset—his prodigious girth—has now become a liability Synonyms debit, disbenefit, downside, drawback, handicap, incommodity, disadvantage, minus, negative, strikeRelated Words albatross, millstone, stranglehold; disability, impairment; failing, shortcoming; bar, catch, check, clog, crimp, embarrassment, hindrance, hitch, hurdle, impediment, interference, let, manacle, obstacle, obstruction, rub, shackle, stop, trammelNear Antonyms vantage; head start, jump, lead, margin, start; ascendancy (also ascendency), better, command, control, drop, mastery, predominance, superiority, supremacy, transcendence, upper hand; prerogative, privilege; break, opportunity; aid, assistance, helpAntonyms advantage, asset, edge, plus

2 the state of being held as the cause of something that needs to be set right the liability for the accident is held by the person who was driving too fast Synonyms blame, fault, responsibilityRelated Words accountability, answerability

3 the state of being left without shelter or protection against something harmful failure to properly clean the wound could increase your liability to infection Synonyms exposure, openness, vulnerabilityRelated Words predisposition, susceptibility; defenselessness, helplessness, weakness; danger, jeopardy, peril, riskNear Antonyms protection, safeguarding, sheltering, shielding

4 the quality or state of being likely to occur what's the liability that he'll file a formal complaint if he's refused admission? Synonyms probability, likelihoodRelated Words credibility, plausibility, plausibleness; feasibility, feasibleness, possibility, potentiality, reasonability, reasonableness, viabilityNear Antonyms doubtfulness, dubiousness; impracticability, impracticality; implausibility, incredibility, incrediblenessAntonyms improbability, unlikelihood, unlikeliness

5 usually liabilities pl  something (as money) which is owed your liabilities total about $200,000 Synonyms arrearage, arrears, indebtedness, debt (usually liabilities), obligation, scoreRelated Words bond, debit, delinquency; bankruptcy, default, embarrassment, insolvencyNear Antonyms quietus, quittance, repayment; asset