callous
callous Lexical Profile
callous Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others and their feelings.
"His callous remarks about the layoffs upset everyone in the office."
Having hardened and thickened skin from continuous friction or pressure; calloused.
"Years of rowing had left the fisherman with callous palms."
• verb
To make or become emotionally hardened, unfeeling, or insensitive.
"Years of exposure to corporate infighting had begun to callous his once idealistic outlook."
To form or cause to form hard, thickened areas on the skin.
"Learning to play the acoustic guitar will quickly callous your fingertips."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the adjective 'callous' (meaning emotionally insensitive or unfeeling) with the noun 'callus' (a thickened, hardened area of skin), though both share the same Latin root and are sometimes conflated in verb forms.
• Rhymes for callous
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late Middle Ages from Latin callosus ('thick-skinned'), from callum ('hard skin'), which quickly developed a figurative sense of emotional hardness and insensitivity.