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callow

[ kal-oh ]
/ ˈkæl oʊ /
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See synonyms for: callow / callowness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
immature or inexperienced: a callow youth.
(of a young bird) featherless; unfledged.
noun
a recently hatched worker ant.
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Origin of callow

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English calu “bald”; cognate with Dutch kaal, German kahl “bald,” Old Church Slavonic golŭ “bare”

OTHER WORDS FROM callow

cal·low·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use callow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for callow (1 of 2)

callow
/ (ˈkæləʊ) /

adjective
lacking experience of life; immature
rare (of a young bird) unfledged and usually lacking feathers

Derived forms of callow

callowness, noun

Word Origin for callow

Old English calu; related to Old High German kalo, Old Slavonic golú bare, naked, Lithuanian galva head, Latin calvus bald

British Dictionary definitions for callow (2 of 2)

Callow
/ (ˈkæləʊ) /

noun
Simon. born 1949, British actor and theatre director
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
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