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.
See Examples For:
How do we transform ourselves from callow pseudo-selves to rooted solid selves?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
New Zealand were caught cold on the substandard pitch at Lord's, yet here they were much too disciplined, skilful and wily for the callow England team.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Built by "Hitman" developers IO Interactive, "First Light" offers a new version of Bond's origin story, dropping players into the shoes of a cocky but callow young version of the spy still earning his stripes.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Price represents the societal upheaval that Turturro’s character rejects and it’s not too much of a stretch to say he’s the kind of callow 20-something who would rather watch AI slop than “Josephine.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Huple, chewing away on a bulging wad of bubble gum, drank everything in with a callow, vacant expression on his fifteen-year-old face.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Real money accounts and hedge funds combined are net long A$8.7 billion, Callow notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Simon Callow is a new addition as a problematic billionaire funding Metropolitan Ballet Theater, as is David Haig, who plays its ailing artistic director.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
Brett Callow, a threat analyst with the cybersecurity company Emsisoft, said it was a “credible threat actor,” though not much more was known about the group.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2024
Even once Lurie has restored their network, it’ll likely take months of behind-the-scenes work for the hospital to fully rebound, Callow said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
Then, on a rainy June evening in 1923, Washington’s varsity crew returned to Poughkeepsie under their new head coach, Russell “Rusty” Callow.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
