callow

[ kal-oh ]
See synonyms for: callowcallowness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. immature or inexperienced: a callow youth.

  2. (of a young bird) featherless; unfledged.

noun
  1. a recently hatched worker ant.

Origin of callow

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English calu “bald”; cognate with Dutch kaal, German kahl “bald,” Old Church Slavonic golŭ “bare”

Other words for callow

Opposites for callow

Other words from callow

  • cal·low·ness, noun

Words Nearby callow

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How to use callow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for callow (1 of 2)

callow

/ (ˈkæləʊ) /


adjective
  1. lacking experience of life; immature

  2. rare (of a young bird) unfledged and usually lacking feathers

Origin of callow

1
Old English calu; related to Old High German kalo, Old Slavonic golú bare, naked, Lithuanian galva head, Latin calvus bald

Derived forms of callow

  • callowness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Callow (2 of 2)

Callow

/ (ˈkæləʊ) /


noun
  1. Simon. born 1949, British actor and theatre director

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