as in responsibility
willingness or obligation to explain one's actions or to admit being the cause of a problem
There is a push to increase accountability among government officials.
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Recent Examples of accountability
In 2023, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 519 to require sheriff’s departments to release far more information related to deaths in county jails, some may have hoped this would lead to a new era of accountability.
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U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025
This was the great, necessary undertaking of the four-year effort by the Department of Justice: to draw distinctions for the sake of allocating individual accountability.
—Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 6 Feb. 2025
Critics have called for accountability in the jail due to the 69 deaths there since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in January 2017.
—Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Feb. 2025
However, the database highlights a significant gap in accountability mechanisms in the Philippines compared to other countries, where victims and prosecutors have pressured the Church into action.
—Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for accountability 
U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025
This was the great, necessary undertaking of the four-year effort by the Department of Justice: to draw distinctions for the sake of allocating individual accountability.
—Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 6 Feb. 2025
Critics have called for accountability in the jail due to the 69 deaths there since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in January 2017.
—Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Feb. 2025
However, the database highlights a significant gap in accountability mechanisms in the Philippines compared to other countries, where victims and prosecutors have pressured the Church into action.
—Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for accountability
Thesaurus Entries Near accountability
Cite this Entry
“Accountability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/accountability. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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