callousness
Americannoun
-
the quality of being insensitive, indifferent, or unsympathetic; hardness of heart.
Cutting off the unemployed from their benefits is a sad blend of callousness—a complete lack of empathy for the unfortunate—and unsound economics.
-
a hardened or thickened condition of the skin or other tissue.
Razors and shaving cause a callousness of the skin, which will encourage heavier hair growth and irritation.
Other Word Forms
- uncallousness noun
Etymology
Origin of callousness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We knew this from past cross-country trips, but we felt surprised all over again—perhaps because of the callousness we perceive among people we see in the news.
“The callousness and calculation involved in this murder was designed to brutalize their victim until his very last breath while striking fear in everyone who witnessed it.”
From Los Angeles Times
Jobless inertia and financial strife breed a cruelty that isn’t dissimilar from the cold strike of an employer maintaining their bottom line, cutting 100 workers with the same callousness that they’d cut 1,000.
From Salon
It's a sign of the callousness of the criminals but also a sign of desperation as it appears Kido is not complying.
From BBC
If you weren’t turned off by the perception of callousness, the distraction of watching the level of charity pot dwindle while people thanked their mothers, spouses and co-workers was aggravating.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
