Meaning & use
holding accountability
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
the act of making a person or group answer for their decisions or actions
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase; often followed by 'for' and the person or thing being checked.
Patterns
- holding accountability for something
- holding someone accountable for something
The committee is focused on holding accountability for the budget errors.
Holding accountability for past mistakes is difficult when records are missing.
She believes that holding accountability for senior managers will improve the company.
phrasefixed phraseformal
the state of being responsible for something and expected to explain your actions
Grammar: Often used after verbs like 'ensure' or 'demand' to talk about a system or culture.
Patterns
- ensure holding accountability
- demand holding accountability
The new rules aim to ensure holding accountability at every level of government.
Voters demanded holding accountability after the scandal.
Without holding accountability, trust in the system will fade.
Common combinations
- holding accountability for
- The report focuses on holding accountability for the delays.
- holding someone accountable
- The board is holding the CEO accountable for the losses.
- a culture of holding accountability
- They want to build a culture of holding accountability.
- holding accountability measures
- New holding accountability measures were introduced last year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- responsibility
- Responsibility is a broader noun that can mean a duty you have, while holding accountability focuses on being made to answer for your actions.
- answerability
- Answerability is a formal synonym that emphasizes the obligation to explain, but it is much rarer and less natural in everyday speech.
Word family
- accountable adjective
- responsible for your actions and expected to explain them
- accountability noun
- the condition of being accountable
- hold accountable phrase
- to make someone answer for what they have done
Commonly confused: holding accountability or taking responsibility?
holding accountability vs taking responsibility
Taking responsibility means accepting that you are at fault, while holding accountability means someone else is making you answer for it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'holding accountability' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'holding accountability for' to mean making someone answer for something. Option 1 is missing 'for' and has wrong word order. Option 2 uses 'to' instead of 'for'. Option 3 uses 'of' instead of 'for'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “holding accountability”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.