callow

[kal-oh]

adjective

1. immature or inexperienced.

   a callow youth.

   Synonyms: jejune, puerile, naive, raw, green, unseasoned
   Antonyms: grown-up, experienced, adult, mature

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

noun

1. a recently hatched worker ant.

callow

¹

/ ˈkæləʊ /

adjective

1. lacking experience of life; immature

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

Callow

²

/ ˈkæləʊ /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• callowness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of callow¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of callow¹

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

Example Sentences

As with the proverbial frog in that pot of water, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s chilling action-thriller “Cloud,” about a callow internet hustler’s reckoning, has nothing good to offer about where online anonymity and e-capitalism have gotten us.

From Los Angeles Times

Not since Zimbabwe's last Test in this country 22 years ago has England's pace attack looked so callow at home, when Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Richard Johnson had a combined seven caps.

From BBC

As he attempted to build a young team with sell-on value in the future while remaining competitive in the present, his team was callow, inconsistent and flaky.

From BBC

I was just a callow teen when Jimmy Carter became president.

From Salon

Quayle’s stricken look — a rictus of shock and humiliation — spoke to the devastation of the rejoinder after which, it’s fair to say, his callow image never fully faded.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• inexperienced