Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

callous

[kal-uhs]
See more synonyms for callous on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. made hard; hardened.
  2. insensitive; indifferent; unsympathetic: They have a callous attitude toward the sufferings of others.
  3. having a callus; indurated, as parts of the skin exposed to friction.
Show More
verb (used with or without object)
  1. to make or become hard or callous.
Show More

Origin of callous

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin callōsus hard-skinned, tough, equivalent to call(um) tough skin, any hard substance + -ōsus -ous
Related formscal·lous·ly, adverbcal·lous·ness, nounun·cal·lous, adjectiveun·cal·lous·ly, adverbun·cal·lous·ness, noun
Can be confusedcallous callus

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. hard. 2. inured, insensible, obtuse. See hard.

Antonyms

1. soft. 2. sensitive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

viciouslyfiercelysavagelymercilesslyrelentlesslyferociouslyruthlesslymeanlyatrociouslybarbaricallybarbarouslycallouslydiabolicallyheartlesslyinexorablyinhumanelyinhumanlypitilesslyunkindlycruelly

Examples from the Web for callously

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Callously, she had struck right and left for room to get to her feet.

  • “Send them a Christmas card, and be done with it,” cried Jill callously.

    Betty Trevor

    Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey

  • He stared in wonder at his own wife as she told him his own heart so callously.

    The Rainbow

    D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

  • “Then I just took her knife and her food, and went,” the woman said, callously.

    The Woman from Outside

    Hulbert Footner

  • "You can say that for me, too," the lanista agreed, callously.

    Triplanetary

    Edward Elmer Smith

British Dictionary definitions for callously

callous

adjective
  1. unfeeling; insensitive
  2. (of skin) hardened and thickened
Show More
verb
  1. pathol to make or become callous
Show More
Derived Formscallously, adverbcallousness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin callōsus; see callus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for callously

callous

adj.

c.1400, "hardened," in the physical sense, from Latin callosus "thick-skinned," from callus, callum "hard skin" (see callus). The figurative sense of "unfeeling" appeared in English by 1670s. Related: Callously; callousness.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
callously in Medicine

callous

(kăl′əs)
adj.
  1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a callus or callosity.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.