Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having calluses; toughened: callous skin on the elbow.
- adj. Emotionally hardened; unfeeling: a callous indifference to the suffering of others.
- v. To make or become callous.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Hard; hardened; indurated, as an ulcer, or the skin on some part of the body from exposure to continuous pressure or friction: as, “a callous cicatrice,” ; “a callous ulcer,”
- Hardened in mind or feelings; insensible; unfeeling: as, “the callous diplomatist,”
- In entomology, swollen and smooth: as, a callous margin, one very thick and irregularly rounded or lumpy. Synonyms Hardened, etc. (see
obdurate ), unsusceptible, unimpressilbe, indifferent, deaf, dead, etc. - To harden or make callous.
Wiktionary
- adj. Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others.
- adj. Having calluses.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Hardened; indurated.
- adj. Hardened in mind; insensible; unfeeling; unsusceptible.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having calluses; having skin made tough and thick through wear
- adj. emotionally hardened
- v. make insensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals
Etymologies
- From Latin callōsus ("hard-skinned"), from callum ("hardened skin") + -ōsus. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French cailleux, from Latin callōsus, from callum, hard skin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“State Department spokesman Mark Toner says Gbagbo's continued efforts to force a result that he could not obtain at the ballot box show what he calls a "callous disregard for the welfare of the Ivorian people, who will again suffer amid renewed heavy fighting in Abidjan.”
Voice of America: Gbagbo Forces Deny Attacking UN, Ouattara Compound
“The summit also strongly condemned what it called a callous attack on the United Nations refugee camp at Gatumba on Friday in which about 160 people were killed.”
“The South African Society of Journalists on Thursday condemned what it described as the callous attitude of the Argus Company in offering its Sunday Star staff one of "the worst termination packages seen in the industry in years".”
“A handful of protesters drowned him out for at least three minutes, assailing Gingrich for what they called a "callous attitude toward poor people.”
“Van Hollen criticized House Speaker John Boehner for what he described as a "callous" attitude toward the prospect of American job loss in the face of budget cuts, and argued that Republicans were taking the "wrong approach" toward mending the economy.”
“A handful of people seated in a campus auditorium on Wednesday assailed Gingrich for what they called a "callous attitude toward poor people.”
“Well, with all the rhetoric that came out of B. Hussein Obama and the rest of the Democrats in their malevolent attacks criticisms of the B.sh Administration in regard to what they termed callous invasions of the privacy of U.S. citizens (monitoring of certain suspect international telephone communications and accessing bank accounts believed to be part of terrorism financing networks), this one sure is a shocker, isn't it?”
“On Tuesday, Ward vowed to fight ceaselessly at today's 10a.m. meeting, especially, she said, because the Republican members took power in what she called a callous way.”
“The maternal object is described as callous, indifferent, given to spiteful aggressions or exploitations of the only, beautiful, talented, or brilliant child.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘callous’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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words 1
Traduce, Ramify, precipitous, rapture, adumbrate, knell, smolder, vagary, choleric, sibylline, hypocritical, jejune and 135 more...
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New Words
No definite conception of these words.
reggaeton, fugacious, astray, artillery, quietism, heteronomy, plebeian, remit, hypostasize, discountenance, rictus, wail and 60 more...
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gre words
convoluted, deride, melancholy, antagonize, antagonize, deference, portentous, prodigious, ruminate, ineffable, turgid, mossy and 58 more...
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GRE
sycophant, obsequious, volubility, equanimity, enervate, effrontery, impertinent, platitude, impudence, quiescent, propitiate, equivocate and 107 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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Neww
specious, disdainfully, vehemently, in lieu of, dismissive, perpetual, preposterous, impasse, fathom, conversely, repugnant, clogged and 142 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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ff
attribute, sticking, distinct, perseverance, trend, clarify, avoidant, ambivalent, disoriented, cling, prompting, appositive and 94 more...
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Eazy E
motley, callous, languid, copious, dubious, contemptible, disparage, sporadic, gratuitous, disillusioned, conflagration, concordance and 99 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Vocab from High School
Words that I found in an old notebook.
affinity, aggrandizement, altruistic, ameliorate, apochryphal, aversion, blithe, bombastic, cajole, callous, capitulate, capricious and 178 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for callous.
ruzuzu "USAGE NOTE: Do not confuse the adjective callous, as in Years of dealing with criminals had left her callous, with the noun callus, as in I have a callus on my thumb. The verbs callous and callus mean respectively 'to make or become callous' and 'to form or develop hardened tissue.'"
--The American Heritage Dictionary Sep 16, 2010