Which to use
“callous” is an adjective and “callus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,355
- “callous” frequency rank
- #47,517
- “callus” frequency rank
- 73872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | callous | callus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Emotionally hardened; unfeeling and indifferent to the suffering/feelings of others. | A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use. |
Same sound, different letters: callous vs callus
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. callous runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against callus's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - callous and callus
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: callous and callus carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ˈkæləs/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
callous is recorded at frequency rank #26,355, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkæləs/. callus is at rank #47,517, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkæləs/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 73872, this pair ranks #38,151 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of callous vs callus
Shared letters: aclsu. Private to "callous": o. Private to "callus": -.
"callous" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "callus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "callous" and "callus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "callous" or "callus"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "callous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "callus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,151 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "callous" and "callus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "callus vs Cally". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #38,151 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.