ANSWERABLE

answerable

(adjective) morally or legally responsible to a higher authority; “parents are answerable for their child’s acts”

answerable

(adjective) capable of being answered

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

answerable (comparative more answerable, superlative most answerable)

Required to justify one's actions (to somebody); accountable, responsible.

(of a question) Able to be answered.

(archaic) Correspondent, in accordance; comparable (to).

(now rare) Proportionate; commensurate in amount; suitable.

(rare, of an argument) Capable of being answered or refuted; admitting a satisfactory answer.

Antonyms

• unanswerable

Source: Wiktionary

An"swer*a*ble, a.

1. Obliged to answer; liable to be called to account; liable to pay, indemnify, or make good; accountable; amenable; responsible; as, an agent is answerable to his principal; to be answerable for a debt, or for damages. Will any man argue that . . . he can not be justly punished, but is answerable only to God Swift.

2. Capable of being answered or refuted; admitting a satisfactory answer. The argument, though subtle, is yet answerable. Johnson.

3. Correspondent; conformable; hence, comparable. What wit and policy of man is answerable to their discreet and orderly course Holland. This revelation . . . was answerable to that of the apostle to the Thessalonians. Milton.

4. Proportionate; commensurate; suitable; as, an achievement answerable to the preparation for it.

5. Equal; equivalent; adequate. [Archaic] Had the valor of his soldiers been answerable, he had reached that year, as was thought, the utmost bounds of Britain. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition