as in accountability
willingness or obligation to explain one's actions or to admit being the cause of a problem
Without any answerability to the people, the despot's actions were motivated by a desire for personal enrichment.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in resolvable
capable of having the reason for or cause of determined
they say this equation is not answerable
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 answerability
Rizwan Virk, The Conversation, 13 Nov. 2025
Also, sources familiar with Madrid’s internal discussions say that the current hierarchy wants to ensure that decisions such as hiring or firing the coach and player transfers would always be made by the board, which is ultimately answerable to the socios.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Co-ops are, by comparison, free agents, answerable to their customers who double mostly as their regulators.
—Llewellyn King, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
This non-departmental public body, answerable to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, has by and large come through the last 15 years with its reputation intact.
—Ian King, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for answerability
Adjective
Some thinkers doubt that the question is even answerable, while others think the theory is impossible – like a 2025 paper arguing that no purely algorithmic system can explain the universe.
—Rizwan Virk, The Conversation, 13 Nov. 2025
Also, sources familiar with Madrid’s internal discussions say that the current hierarchy wants to ensure that decisions such as hiring or firing the coach and player transfers would always be made by the board, which is ultimately answerable to the socios.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Co-ops are, by comparison, free agents, answerable to their customers who double mostly as their regulators.
—Llewellyn King, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
This non-departmental public body, answerable to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, has by and large come through the last 15 years with its reputation intact.
—Ian King, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for answerability
Recent Examples of Synonyms for answerability
Noun
-
The situation has fueled broader conversations about event marketing, consumer expectations and accountability when large-scale fan experiences do not match their promotional claims.—
Claire Dodds,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Drop your ego, keep the accountability, and focus on improvement.—
Johnny C. Taylor Jr,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The investigation revealed that the man near the scene was the child's uncle, who was the last person known to be responsible for the child's care, police said.—
Brandon Downs,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
To take ecology seriously in art is not to retreat from circulation, but to insist that circulation be reciprocal, responsible, and capable of resisting the monocultures—economic, cultural, and political—that continue to shape the present.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But one of the challenges here is that some of these crises are not immediately resolvable.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
29 Mar. 2026
-
The Coordinated Set Identification Service (CSIS) allows two earbuds—or two hearing aids—to be discovered and managed as a coordinated set rather than independently, with resolvable identifiers and set‑level locks.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
All federal, state and/or local income and other taxes, if any, are the winner’s sole responsibility.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Greene says that responsibility belongs to local police departments.—
Ubah Ali,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The resulting lawsuit found both the Cowboys and the NFL liable for the working conditions on that 27-degree February day.—
Nick Harris
April 3,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Last week, a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable in a case involving child safety, while jurors in Los Angeles held the Facebook parent and Google's YouTube negligent in a personal injury trial.—
Jennifer Elias,Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This information helps the military decide whether a rescue is immediately feasible, what methods should be used, and which aircraft to send to rescue the crew.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Nuclear explosions appeared to make a new sea-level canal financially feasible.—
The Conversation,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
One way to make the model more transparent is by applying an additional model called XAI, or explainable artificial intelligence.—
Isaac Quaye,
The Conversation,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Each episode, on its own, was explainable.—
Adam Ciralsky,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Oats, beans, lentils, apples and avocados all have high soluble fiber content.—
Kaitlin Sullivan,
NBC news,
22 Mar. 2026
-
But soluble fiber’s sponge-like abilities can help lower cholesterol and slow glucose absorption, 1said Sandhya Shukla, MD, a gastroenterologist with Atlantic Coast Gastroenterology Associates.—
Sarah Garone,
Health,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Answerability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/answerability. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
