Meaning & use
irresponsible
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Meanings
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Acting or done without proper care for the possible harm or trouble it may cause to oneself or others.
Grammar: Describes a person or a choice and can come before a noun or after be: an irresponsible driver, or It was irresponsible of him.
Patterns
- it is irresponsible of someone to do something
- irresponsible to do something
It was irresponsible of the pilot to ignore the weather warning.
Leaving a young child alone in the car is irresponsible.
The company was criticized for its irresponsible advertising to teenagers.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Not able to be trusted with duties or obligations, because of a habit of neglecting them.
Grammar: Usually describes a person's character over time: an irresponsible tenant who never pays rent.
Patterns
- an irresponsible person
My irresponsible neighbor forgets to feed his dog for days.
Nobody would lend money to such an irresponsible borrower.
The manager called the intern irresponsible after he missed a third deadline.
Word forms
| comparative | more irresponsible |
|---|---|
| superlative | most irresponsible |
Common combinations
- irresponsible behavior
- The coach would not tolerate irresponsible behavior on the trip.
- downright irresponsible
- Driving after a night without sleep is downright irresponsible.
- irresponsible parent
- No one called her an irresponsible parent for letting her teenager travel alone.
- financially irresponsible
- Spending your whole salary on gadgets is financially irresponsible.
- socially irresponsible
- Critics called the firm socially irresponsible for dumping waste.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reckless
- Reckless stresses taking dangerous risks without caring, whereas irresponsible can also mean simply failing to do what is expected.
- careless
- Careless is milder and often describes a simple lapse in attention, while irresponsible blames a failure of duty.
- negligent
- Negligent is more formal and often legal, describing someone who fails to take the care they owe to others.
- thoughtless
- Thoughtless means not considering other people's feelings and is less serious than irresponsible, which suggests real consequences.
Opposites
Word family
- responsible adjective
- having a duty, or deserving blame or credit for something
- responsibility noun
- a duty, or the state of being accountable
- irresponsibly adverb
- in a careless way that ignores duty
- irresponsibility noun
- the quality of acting without care for duty or consequences
- responsibly adverb
- in a sensible and dependable way
Commonly confused: irresponsible or unresponsive?
irresponsible vs unresponsive
Unresponsive means not reacting to someone or something, while irresponsible means failing in duty or care.
Practice
The mayor called it ______ to open the beach before the storm warning had ended.
Choose one answer.
Irresponsible fits because opening the beach ignored a duty to keep people safe. Unresponsive means not reacting, and inattentive only suggests not paying attention, without the sense of blame for the risk.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “irresponsible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.