Synonyms for callous
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Insensitive — emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others
insensitive, heartless, hardened, unfeeling, hard-hearted, cruel, unsympathetic, hard, brutal, tough, indifferent, apathetic, harsh, cold, obtuse, unrepentant, wanton, stony-hearted, obdurate, thick-skinned, insensible, dull
3. Indurate
Definitions
- adj. 1
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.
- adj. 2
Having calluses, or relating to calluses.
Related words
- Word family
- callously callousness callousy calloused callusy
- Other spellings
- callus
Choose the right word
Callous denotes a deadening of the sensibilities; as. a callous conscience.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- hardened The cement hardened and restricted Hulk’s movements.
- insensitive Soles of the feet are insensitive to heat and cold.
- heartless We're all handicapped and heartless in own ways.
- unfeeling He accused me of being an unfeeling father and husband.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| callous | rising | |
| hardened | steady | |
| insensitive | steady | |
| heartless | rising | |
| unfeeling | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hard1, cold1, dull1, numb1
- 5 letters
- tough1, cruel2, harsh1
- 6 letters
- brutal2, obtuse2, wanton2
- 7 letters
- callusy
- 8 letters
- hardened2, obdurate3, callousy, indurate
- 9 letters
- heartless2, apathetic4, unfeeling3, calloused2
- 10 letters
- insensible4
- 11 letters
- insensitive4, indifferent3, unrepentant4
- 13 letters
- unsympathetic5
- 14 letters
- pachydermatous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (cruel2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- endurci