callow
adjective
immature or inexperienced.
callow
1
British
/ ˈkæləʊ /
adjective
-
lacking experience of life; immature
-
rare (of a young bird) unfledged and usually lacking feathers
Callow
2
British
/ ˈkæləʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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”
Explanation
If you're a rookie or new to something, you could be described as callow — like callow freshmen in high school or the callow receptionist who can't figure out how to transfer a call. The word callow comes from the Old English word calu, which meant "bald or featherless." It was used to describe young, fledgling birds. Over time, the meaning expanded to include young, inexperienced people. You'll most often see the adjective paired with the noun youth. Think of the callow youth as people who haven't tested their wings yet.
Vocabulary lists containing callow
Brave New World
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Into the Wild
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Things Fall Apart
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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.
He presented himself as a callow young culture warrior prosecuting a case against Old Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
As with the proverbial frog in that pot of water, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s chilling action-thriller “Cloud,” about a callow internet hustler’s reckoning, has nothing good to offer about where online anonymity and e-capitalism have gotten us.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2025
I was just a callow teen when Jimmy Carter became president.
From Salon • Jan. 2, 2025
In a team largely made up of callow youth, Spencer and his fellow underdogs were organised and disciplined and too mentally strong to buckle under the pressure Scotland put on them, which wasn't nearly enough.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2024
A callow youth, always smiling, skilled with a bow; it was hard to imag-ine him as Lord of Winterfell.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
