as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
the callous comment "It's just a fish," when the boy's pet died, made him cry
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Recent Examples of callous
Tennant costars in The Thursday Murder Club as Ian Ventham, the callous, money-hungry co-owner of Coopers Chase.
—
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The New Yorker’s Talk writer was similarly blinkered and callous, treating Grey like a consenting partner and Chaplin as a dual victim, of his mother-in-law’s venality and of Middle America’s moral prejudices.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Putting Laguna Beach with north county teams in Century Conference was callous.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
This cruel and callous Big Ugly Bill’s CTC tax relief actually excludes our poorest families who make less than $30,000.
—Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for callous
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The New Yorker’s Talk writer was similarly blinkered and callous, treating Grey like a consenting partner and Chaplin as a dual victim, of his mother-in-law’s venality and of Middle America’s moral prejudices.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Putting Laguna Beach with north county teams in Century Conference was callous.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
This cruel and callous Big Ugly Bill’s CTC tax relief actually excludes our poorest families who make less than $30,000.
—Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for callous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for callous
Adjective
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Those hoping to snatch a home in this busy period faced limited options on the market, as the country’s developers had chronically underbuilt compared to demand in the years following the subprime mortgage crisis, leading to ruthless bidding wars and climbing home values.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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Hedda orchestrates a ruthless game of manipulation, where lust, jealousy and betrayal collide.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Just clean, merciless, fundamental football.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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Chat members were merciless in their rhetoric against fellow Young Republicans in competing factions of the organization.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Callous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/callous. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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