callous
Americanadjective
-
made hard; hardened.
- Synonyms:
- hard
- Antonyms:
- soft
-
insensitive; indifferent; unsympathetic.
They have a callous attitude toward the sufferings of others.
- Synonyms:
- obtuse, insensible
- Antonyms:
- sensitive
-
having a callus; indurated, as parts of the skin exposed to friction.
verb (used with or without object)
adjective
-
unfeeling; insensitive
-
(of skin) hardened and thickened
verb
Related Words
See hard.
Other Word Forms
- callously adverb
- callousness noun
- uncallous adjective
- uncallously adverb
Etymology
Origin of callous
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English from Latin callōsus “hard-skinned, tough,” equivalent to call(um) “tough skin, any hard substance” + -ōsus -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The late French queen is best known for her supposedly callous, clueless, privileged suggestion that if the peasants couldn’t get enough bread, they should eat cake instead.
From MarketWatch
David Huerta, president of SEIU-United Service Workers West, which represents airport workers, said the timing of the motion, in the middle of the holiday season, was “particularly callous.”
From Los Angeles Times
I am, by the average measure, certainly no callous stoic.
From Salon
The warm evening air is replaced by callous, suffocating water.
From Literature
What sort of people were they, who could talk in such a callous way?
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
