callous
adjUK, US /ˈkæləs/
Etymology From Latin callōsus (“hard-skinned”), from callum (“hardened skin”) + -ōsus.
1
Figuratively Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others.
- She was so callous that she could criticise a cancer patient for wearing a wig.
- Re-watching some of the audition rounds of these shows now, you're struck by how callous the judges' comments often were, and how they presented a cruel spectacle in which the audience were set up to laugh at the "deluded" members of the public who believed they could sing.2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC:
2
Literally Having calluses, or relating to calluses.
- Derived terms
- uncallous
- Related terms
- callously, callousness, callus