Meaning & use
callow
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Meaning
adjectivecomparabledisapprovingformal
Young and inexperienced, showing little understanding of life, and often not yet mature in manner or judgment.
Grammar: Used before a noun (a callow youth) or after a linking verb (he was callow).
Patterns
- a callow youth
- callow and naive
The callow intern believed every promise the manager made.
I was a callow student then, sure that I knew everything.
His callow remarks embarrassed the older members of the team.
Word forms
| comparative | more callow |
|---|---|
| superlative | most callow |
Common combinations
- callow youth
- The callow youth stepped off the train with a single suitcase.
- callow and inexperienced
- The officer was callow and inexperienced when he first took command.
- callow remark
- His callow remark showed how little he understood.
- a callow young man
- A callow young man in a borrowed suit sat at the back.
- callow judgment
- The editor regretted publishing such callow judgment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- green
- Green is informal and neutral, suggesting freshness and inexperience, whereas callow sounds more critical.
- naive
- Naive stresses trusting too easily, and it can describe adults, while callow stresses youthful lack of experience.
- immature
- Immature is a plain word that criticizes childish behavior, and callow adds the idea of inexperience.
- inexperienced
- Inexperienced is neutral and simply notes the lack of experience, without criticism.
Opposites
Word family
- callowness noun
- the state of being young and inexperienced
Commonly confused: callow or callous? callow or shallow?
callow vs callous
Callous means cruel or unfeeling toward others, while callow means young and inexperienced. They sound alike but have unrelated meanings.
callow vs shallow
Shallow means lacking depth of thought or feeling, and a callow person is not necessarily superficial, just inexperienced.
Practice
The general was irritated by the ___ lieutenant who had never seen real combat.
Choose one answer.
Callow means young and inexperienced, which fits someone who has never seen combat. Callous means unfeeling, shallow means lacking depth, and hollow does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “callow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.