callow

/ˈkæləʊ/

//ˈkæləʊ// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"callow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“callow” is uncommon English (frequency #55,303 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,303
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a person: having no hair; bald, bare, hairless.

Corpus desk

Index EN-callow · callow · English

callow · rank #55,303 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,303
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Cagliari

Nearest frequency peer: Cagliari (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “callow”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “callow” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for callow
PropertyValue
Headwordcallow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈkæləʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#55,303
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “callow” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).callowfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Cagliari” (#55,302), “buzzy” (#55,301), “Burlingame” (#55,300). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “callow” is #55,303. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

callow is uncommon English at frequency #55,303 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkæləʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

callow doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English calwe (“(adjective) bald; (noun) bald person”), from Old English calu, caluw (“without hair, bald, callow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kalu, from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz (“bald; bare, naked”), and then either: * from Proto-Indo-European *… The correct English form is callow, spelled C-A-L-L-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a person: having no hair; bald, bare, hairless.
  2. 2
    Of a brick: unburnt.
  3. 3
    Of a young bird, or (part of) its body: having not developed feathers yet; featherless, unfledged; hence, of other animals or their bodies: having no fur or hair; furless, hairless, unfurred.
  4. 4
    Of a young bird, or (part of) its body: having not developed feathers yet; featherless, unfledged; hence, of other animals or their bodies: having no fur or hair; furless, hairless, unfurred.
  5. 5
    In the life cycle of an animal: newly born or hatched; juvenile.
  6. 6
    Synonym of teneral (“of certain insects or other arthropods such as spiders: lacking colour or firmness just after ecdysis (“shedding of the exoskeleton”)”).
  7. 7
    Of land: having no vegetation; bare.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how callow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Then there was a little Chinese in full azure costume, with long gesticulating arms, and large callow head, who pertinaciously threw in his squeaky plea for Confucius in the most unsyntactical French.
  2. There was a sense abroad as he spoke that the world was rocking together to great music, and this callow-headed professor by the table had caught a note of it.

Etymology

From Middle English calwe (“(adjective) bald; (noun) bald person”), from Old English calu, caluw (“without hair, bald, callow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kalu, from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz (“bald; bare, naked”), and then either: * from Proto-Indo-European *gol(H)-wo- (“bald; bare, naked”), from *gelH- (“head; naked”); or * from Latin calvus (“bald”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥H- (“bald; naked”). If not borrowed from Latin, Grimm’s law indicates that the Latin word is likely a false cognate, along with Persian کل (kal) and Sanskrit कुल्व (kulvá). cognates * Dutch kaal (“bald”) * German kahl (“bald”) * German Low German kahl (“bald”) * Russian го́лый (gólyj, “bare, naked, nude”) * Swedish kal, kalka (“bald”) * West Frisian keal (“bald”)

This word in other languages

inmaduro(Español)grün(Deutsch)imaturo(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "callow"?
"callow" is spelled C-A-L-L-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkæləʊ/.
What does "callow" mean?
As an adjective, "callow" means: Of a person: having no hair; bald, bare, hairless.
How do you pronounce "callow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "callow" is /ˈkæləʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "callow"?
From Middle English calwe (“(adjective) bald; (noun) bald person”), from Old English calu, caluw (“without hair, bald, callow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kalu, from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz (“bald; bare, naked”), and then either: * from Proto-Indo-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "callow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bruner#55,295Brophy#55,293Blaney#55,285Cheech#55,321

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list