callow

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈkæloʊ/ UK /ˈkæləʊ/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
inexperienced and immature

The callow recruit made several beginner's mistakes.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · inexperienced and immature immature inexperienced green naive raw unfledged juvenile unsophisticated

Opposites

mature experienced seasoned worldly sophisticated

Word family

Forms callowness

Derived forms callownesscallowly

Etymology

From Old English calu ('bald, featherless'), from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz, perhaps from Latin calvus ('bald'). The sense moved from 'unfledged (of a young bird)' to 'immature, inexperienced'.

calu Old English *kalwaz Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Describing Qualities

# callow

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈkæloʊ
**IPA (UK):** ˈkæləʊ

## Meanings
1. inexperienced and immature

## Examples
- The callow recruit made several beginner's mistakes.

## Synonyms
- immature
- inexperienced
- green
- naive
- raw
- unfledged
- juvenile
- unsophisticated

## Antonyms
- mature
- experienced
- seasoned
- worldly
- sophisticated

## Derived Forms
- callowness
- callowly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: calu
- Root: *kalwaz

## Etymology
From Old English calu ('bald, featherless'), from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz, perhaps from Latin calvus ('bald'). The sense moved from 'unfledged (of a young bird)' to 'immature, inexperienced'.

## AI Etymology
Callow is from Old English calu ('bald, featherless'), from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz, perhaps from Latin calvus ('bald'). The sense moved from 'unfledged (of a young bird)' to 'immature, inexperienced'. In present-day use, it means inexperienced and immature. Derived formations include callowness and callowly.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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callow

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