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callous

adjective · noun · verb

Simple meaning

Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kaluhs

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkæləs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. figurative

    Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others.

  2. literal

    Having calluses, or relating to calluses.

noun

  1. A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use.

verb

  1. To form such hardened tissue.

Word at a Glance

Frequency
Rare

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

callous indifferencecallous attitudecallous treatmentcallous heartcallous mannercallous brutalitycallous cruelty

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • callernounPerson or profession

    A social or business visitor.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: emotionally hardened

insensitive

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.