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A callus is a hard, thickened area of skin that develops usually from friction or irritation over time. Such a hardened area often leaves one less sensitive to the touch, so it's no surprise that the adjective callous, in addition to describing skin that is hard and thick, can also be used as a synonym for harsh or insensitive. Both callus and callous derive via Middle English from Latin. The figurative sense of callous entered English almost 300 years after the literal sense, and Robert Louis Stevenson used it aptly when he wrote, in Treasure Island, "But, indeed, from what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on."
Synonyms
Adjective
- affectless
- case-hardened
- cold-blooded
- compassionless
- desensitized
- hard
- hard-boiled
- hard-hearted
- heartless
- indurate
- inhuman
- inhumane
- insensate
- insensitive
- ironhearted
- merciless
- obdurate
- pachydermatous
- pitiless
- remorseless
- ruthless
- slash-and-burn
- soulless
- stony
- stoney
- stonyhearted
- take-no-prisoners
- thick-skinned
- uncharitable
- unfeeling
- unmerciful
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
Examples of callous in a Sentence
Benedict Nightingale, New York Times Book Review, 10 May 1987
… the scenes involving the snotty, callous dean ring false right from the start …
—Pauline Kael, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 1985
Patient, cold and callous, our hands wrapped in socks, we waited to snowball the cats.
—Dylan Thomas, "A Child's Christmas in Wales,"
in Quite Early One Morning, 1954
a selfish and callous young man
a callous refusal to help the poor
Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023
But Chabon’s literary gifts, in at least one sense, inadvertently transcend his callous attitude.
—Jack Butler, National Review, 4 Nov. 2023
Seattle’s Community Police Commission has recommended that the city’s police chief place on unpaid leave the officer under investigation for making callous remarks about the death of a 23-year-old woman after she was struck by another officer’s cruiser in a crosswalk.
—Janelle Griffith, NBC News, 21 Sep. 2023
This is a movie that will be endlessly memed, particularly Rosamund Pike’s every line as Felix’s blithely callous aristocratic mother.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2023
In the fifties, the Fujiwara Opera, based in Tokyo, collaborated with New York City Opera on a bilingual production: Japanese singers took the Japanese roles, and white singers portrayed the callous Lieutenant Pinkerton and the more sympathetic consul Sharpless.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
The tone-deaf response by college students and left-wing activists has been matched by statements from the halls of power that are equally callous toward Palestinian lives.
—TIME, 14 Oct. 2023
Lewis cannot seem to conceive that perhaps this kid was just a cruel and callous piece of work.
—Jacob Bacharach, The New Republic, 12 Oct. 2023
Andy was a one-of-a-kind man, and for two individuals to take his life in such a cold and callous way is sick.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2023
Nandan Nilekani, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2018
His hands are raw, his feet are calloused, but Monday was a new day, a new challenge, inspiring new hope.
—Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 27 Apr. 2020
His beard was rough, and his hands were cracked and calloused.
—Peter Talbot, The Seattle Times, 14 June 2019
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'callous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near callous
Cite this Entry
“Callous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/callous. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
callous
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on callous
Nglish: Translation of callous for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about callous
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