Callous

How to spell callous

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce callous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does callous mean?

1. adjectiveShowing a cruel lack of concern or sympathy for the feelings or suffering of others.

Callous in a sentence

• The landlord made a callous decision to evict the family during winter.

• Her callous remarks about the layoffs upset everyone in the office.

Where does callous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin callosus, meaning 'thick-skinned' or 'hard', which was built on callus, the Latin noun for a patch of hardened skin. English adopted it in the fifteenth century, at first in the very literal medical sense of skin that had grown tough and horny from repeated rubbing. From there the meaning shifted by metaphor: a person whose feelings had become 'hardened' was said to be callous, that is, no longer sensitive to the suffering of others. The same root survives in the noun 'callus', the literal patch of toughened skin, and the closeness of the two forms is precisely why writers slip between callous and callus. Remembering that the figurative, feelings-hardened adjective carries the extra -o- and the -ous ending of an adjective ('full of hardness') is the surest way to keep the spelling straight.

How the word is built

• call- (from Latin callum/callus: hard skin)
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of, having the quality of)