liability
li·abil·ity/laɪəˈbɪlɪti/noun
liability is spelled L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables (li·abil·ity). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, liability means “An obligation, debt or responsibility owed to someone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of liability is liabilities.
How many letters and syllables are in liability?
| Letters | 9: L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: li·abil·ity |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,496th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is liability?
Liability appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce liability?
- /laɪəˈbɪlɪti/
Liability has 3 syllables, split li·abil·ity in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-liability.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of liability
- liabilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does liability mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An obligation, debt or responsibility owed to someone.
- 2
Any kind of debt recorded on the right-hand side of a balance sheet.
- 3
A handicap that holds something back, a drawback, someone or something that is a burden to whoever is required to take care of them; a person or action that exposes others to greater risk.
- 4
derogatoryinformalA person on a team that is more of a hindrance than a help.
You're a bloody liability sometimes!
- 5
The likelihood of something happening.
- 6
The condition of being susceptible to something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate liability?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of liability: Liab..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Liability in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | responsabilité, dette |
| German | Schuld, Schulden, Verbindlichkeit , Verpflichtung, Verantwortung |
| Portuguese | responsabilidade, obrigação, dívida , possibilidade |
| Spanish | lastre, estorbo, rémora |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does liability come from?
From liable + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).