callous
/ˈkæləs/ adjective
Forms callouses callousing calloused
- adjective (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.”
- adjective (literally) Having calluses, or relating to calluses.
Synonyms
heartless insensitive brutal cold insensate hardhanded cold-eyed cruel dour thick-skinned flint-hearted forbidding frosty grim hard hard-boiled hardened hardhearted harsh humorless cauterize cauterise indurate pachydermatous calloused thickened
Etymology
From Latin callōsus (“hard-skinned”), from callum (“hardened skin”) + -ōsus.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Hardenes; indurated. "A callous hand." Goldsmith. "A callous ulcer." Dunglison.
- adjective Hardened in mind; insensible; unfeeling; unsusceptible. "The callous diplomatist." Macaulay.
Etymology [L. callosus callous hard, fr. callum, callus, callous skin: cf. F. calleux.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “callous”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details