Callous or callus?
callous is an adjective meaning “Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of…”; callus is a noun meaning “A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated…”. Use callous as an adjective and callus as a noun. They sound the same (/ˈkæləs/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) callous is about 3.0 times as common as callus.
What is the difference between callous and callus?
| callous | callus | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others Having calluses, or relating to calluses | A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use The material of repair in fractures of bone; a substance exuded at the site of fracture, which is at first soft or cartilaginous in consistency, but is… To form such hardened tissue |
| Example | She was so callous that she could criticise a cancer patient for wearing a wig | none recorded |
| Forms | none | calluses, calli |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkæləs/ | /ˈkæləs/ |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: callous and callus in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of callous and callus
callous
- 1
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
- 2
Alternative form of callus
- 3
Alternative form of callus
- 4
Having calluses, or relating to calluses
callus
- 1
A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use
- 2
To form such hardened tissue
- 3
The material of repair in fractures of bone; a substance exuded at the site of fracture, which is at first soft or cartilaginous in consistency, but is ultimately converted into true bone and unites…
- 4
The new formation over the end of a cutting, before it puts out rootlets
- 5
In orchids, a fleshy outgrowth from the labellum
- 6
In grasses, a hardened extension from the base of a floret, which may or may not elongate and is often covered in hairs or bristles
- 7
A shining area on the frons of many species of Tabanomorpha (horse flies and relatives)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, callous or callus?
callous appears 1.2 times per million words; callus about once in every 3 million words.
callous 1.2 times per million wordscallus about once in every 3 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search callous vs callus?
“callous vs callus” is searched about 590 times a month on Google and 130 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“callus vs callous”, “callous or callus”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.