callous

English

Etymology

From Latin callōsus (“hard-skinned”), from callum (“hardened skin”) + -ōsus.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæləs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æləs
• Homophone: callus

Adjective

callous (comparative more callous, superlative most callous)

2. (figurative) Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others.

   She was so callous that she could criticise a cancer patient for wearing a wig.

   • 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Re-watching some of the audition rounds of these shows now, you're struck by how callous the judges' comments often were, and how they presented a cruel spectacle in which the audience were set up to laugh at the "deluded" members of the public who believed they could sing.

4. (literally) Having calluses, or relating to calluses.

Synonyms

• (figurative sense): heartless, insensitive
• (literal sense): callousy, callusy, calloused, callused

Related terms

• callously
• callousness
• callus

Translations

emotionally hardened

• Bulgarian: безчувствен (bg) (bezčuvstven), безсърдечен (bg) (bezsǎrdečen)
• Catalan: insensible (ca) m, cruel (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無情的／无情的 (zh) (wúqíng de), 鐵石心腸的／铁石心肠的 (zh) (tiěshí xīncháng de)

• Czech: otrlý
• Dutch: ongevoelig (nl), hard (nl), gevoelloos (nl), bot (nl), harteloos (nl), afgestompt (nl)
• Finnish: tunteeton (fi), kylmä (fi), sydämetön (fi)
• French: endurci (fr), sans-cœur (fr), insensible (fr) m or f
• Galician: frío (gl) m, indolente m, insensible (gl) m, desconsiderado m, endurecido m, cínico (gl) m
• German: gefühllos (de), verhärtet (de), abgestumpft, herzlos (de)
• Gothic: 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (daufs)
• Greek: σκληρόκαρδος (el) (sklirókardos), άκαρδος (el) (ákardos)
• Hungarian: kérges (hu), keményszívű (hu), érzéketlen (hu)
• Icelandic: kaldgeðja m, tilfinningalaus (is) m, harðgeðja m, harðlyndur m, harðbrjósta m, fólskulegur (is) m
• Italian: cinico (it), insensibile (it)
• Lithuanian: bejausmis
• Maori: ueke, ngākau-rahirahi, tītonga
• Plautdietsch: onemfintlich
• Polish: bezduszny (pl), nieczuły (pl)
• Portuguese: insensível (pt)
• Romanian: nesimțit (ro), duritate (ro), insensibil (ro), fără inimă
• Russian: чёрствый (ru) (čórstvyj), бессерде́чный (ru) (besserdéčnyj), безду́шный (ru) (bezdúšnyj), бесчу́вственный (ru) (besčúvstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: nemilosrdan (sh), bezosjećajan, tvrd (sh)
• Spanish: insensible (es), cruel (es), desconsiderado (es)
• Swedish: känslolös (sv), känslokall (sv), hjärtlös (sv)
• Turkish: katı (tr)

having calluses

• Bulgarian: мазолест (mazolest)
• Catalan: callós (ca) m
• Dutch: eeltig (nl)
• Finnish: känsäinen
• German: schwielig (de)
• Hungarian: kérges (hu), bőrkeményedéses (hu)
• Irish: cranrach, fadharcánach
• Italian: calloso (it)
• Latin: callōsus
• Maori: ueke, utonga, raupā
• Old English: wearriht
• Polish: zgrubiały, zrogowaciały
• Russian: мозо́листый (ru) (mozólistyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: žuljevit (sh), kalozan
• Spanish: calloso (es)
• Turkish: nasırlı (tr)

Noun

callous (plural callouses)

1. Alternative form of callus

Verb

callous (third-person singular simple present callouses, present participle callousing, simple past and past participle calloused)

1. Alternative form of callus