Make Your Point: CALLOW

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pronounce CALLOW:

CAL oh

connect this word to others:

Here's seventeen-year-old Rolfe in The Sound of Music, explaining things to sixteen-year-old Liesl:

"Your life, little girl, is an empty page
That men will want to write on."

(Source)

He's got a point. With no life experiences to help her see how creepy and patronizing this is, Liesl finds it charming. In her own words, she's naïve. We could also call her callow.

"Callow" helps you imply that someone is youthful and inexperienced in a helpless way, like a baby bird with no feathers.

But if you want to imply that their youth and inexperience is endearing and refreshing, like green grass in springtime, you might call them v__n__. Can you recall that word? It means "happening in the spring, or fresh, mild, or youthful in a spring-like way."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Callow" traces back to an Old English word meaning "bare, or bald."

Literally speaking, a callow baby bird hasn't grown any feathers yet.

Figuratively, someone callow reminds you of a baby bird because they lack experience or maturity.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a callow child;" "She was still callow then."

Other forms:

Just the noun, "callowness."

how to use it:

When you need to strike a tone that's especially formal, and when you want to compare someone to a tiny, squirming, newly hatched bird, call them callow.

We often apply this word to children, teenagers, and people who have just entered the workforce, wide-eyed and relatively stupid. For that reason, it can be a little insulting.

Although it's usually people that we call callow, we can also talk about callow beliefs, emotions, attitudes, habits, expectations, etc.

examples:

"A troop of newly arrived students, very young, pink and callow, followed nervously, rather abjectly, at the Director's heels."
— Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, 1932

"Huple, chewing away on a bulging wad of bubble gum, drank everything in with a callow, vacant expression on his fifteen-year-old face."
— Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961

has this page helped you understand "callow"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "callow" without saying "untried" or "unsophisticated."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "At the beginning of (some book or movie), (someone) is a callow (child, youth, adolescent, student, or other person), with no thought in their head other than (something)."

Example: "At the beginning of Legally Blonde, Elle is a callow college student, with no thought in her head other than getting her boyfriend back."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Market That Makeup!"

Check out the names given to the shades in a palette, and decide what to call the shade with the missing name. You might channel the vibe established by the other shade names, or just pick the weirdest or most grandiloquent name you can think of. To see the shade's real name—the one that the marketing team picked—scroll all the way down.

Try this one today:

Temptalia's "Sydney Grace Radiant Reflection" palette includes shades like "Glossover," "Sumptuous Serendipity," and "Sublime Reverie."

Invent a name for the shade on the top row, second from the left:

(Source)

review this word:

1. Opposites of CALLOW include

A. DEEP, PROFOUND, and COMPLEX.
B. DETAILED, THOROUGH, and TIMELY.
C. SKILLED, EXPERIENCED, and FULL-FLEDGED.

2. A writer for the Guardian points out Spider-Man's "callow nature" in Spider-Man: Homecoming, especially as he _____.

A. gets a new costume
B. makes a rookie mistake
C. faces off against a powerful new villain

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CALLOW

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