different between flighty vs irresponsible

English

Etymology

From flight +? -y. Compare Dutch vluchtig (“volatile; fleeting; cursory”), German flüchtig (“volatile; fleeting; momentary; quick”), Danish flygtig (“elusive; evasive”), Swedish flyktig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fla?ti/

Adjective

flighty (comparative flightier, superlative flightiest)

1. Given to unplanned and silly ideas or actions.
2. (of a bird) That flies easily or often.
   • 2013, Diego Gil, Henrik Brumm, Avian Urban Ecology

     "We know that flighty birds suffer from greater risk of raptor predation, and I assume that it is useful to understand the effects of urbanization because flighty species may be more vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance."

3. (obsolete) Swift.

Translations

English

Etymology

From ir- +? responsible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??r??sp?ns?bl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?r??sp?ns?b?l/

Adjective

irresponsible (comparative more irresponsible, superlative most irresponsible)

1. (now rare) Not responsible; exempt from legal responsibility, not to be held accountable.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford 2009, p. 28:

     They left the crown what, in the eye and estimation of law, it had ever been, perfectly irresponsible.

2. Lacking a sense of responsibility; performed or acting as though without responsibility; negligent.

Translations

Noun

irresponsible (plural irresponsibles)

1. Someone who is not responsible.

References

• irresponsible in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• irresponsible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

See also

• unresponsive