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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of callous
This is a distortion of the law, and a display of callous indifference to the tragedies that moved Congress to pass the Refugee Act.
—
Elizabeth Holtzman,
Time,
9 June 2026
Then Sunday night’s series finale brought it all to an abrupt, patchwork, and brutally callous end.
—
Ct Jones,
Rolling Stone,
2 June 2026
Only the most callous of viewers would fail to sympathize with goalkeeper Matt Turner after seeing an injury compounding the personal tragedy of his partner’s miscarriage.
—
Beau Dure,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
His actions suggest a lack of integrity or, worse, a callous disregard for your professional well-being and reputation.
—
R. Eric Thomas,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for callous
Elizabeth Holtzman,
Time,
9 June 2026
Then Sunday night’s series finale brought it all to an abrupt, patchwork, and brutally callous end.
—
Ct Jones,
Rolling Stone,
2 June 2026
Only the most callous of viewers would fail to sympathize with goalkeeper Matt Turner after seeing an injury compounding the personal tragedy of his partner’s miscarriage.
—
Beau Dure,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
His actions suggest a lack of integrity or, worse, a callous disregard for your professional well-being and reputation.
—
R. Eric Thomas,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for callous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for callous
Adjective
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Canadian quartet Truck Violence have been sloshing together these subgenres in a ruthless manner for several years now, and their sophomore album and debut for the Flenser aims for even higher drops between those peaks and valleys.
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There was relative peace for 11 years, until a second civil war erupted in 1983, when leaders in Khartoum imposed sharia (Islamic) law and accelerated repression of the southern Christian rebels, which ultimately allowed a ruthless military officer, Omar al-Bashir, to come to power in 1989.
Adjective
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The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.
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Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.
Adjective
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Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.
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Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
Cite this Entry
“Callous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/callous. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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