callow

UK: /ˈkæləʊ/ US: /ˈkæloʊ/ ,(kal′ō)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cal•low /ˈkæloʊ/   adj. 

1. immature or inexperienced:
   a callow youth of no experience.

cal•low•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cal•low  (kal′ō), adj. 

1. immature or inexperienced:
   a callow youth.
2. Birds (of a young bird) featherless;
   unfledged.

n. 

3. Insects a recently hatched worker ant.

• bef. 1000; Middle English, Old English calu bald; cognate with Dutch kaal, German kahl bald, Old Church Slavonic golù bare

cal′low•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. untried, green, raw; naive, puerile, jejune.

Antonyms

• 1. mature, adult, experienced.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

callow / ˈkæləʊ/ adjective

1. lacking experience of life; immature

Etymology: Old English calu; related to Old High German kalo, Old Slavonic golú bare, naked, Lithuanian galva head, Latin calvus bald

ˈcallowness noun

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Callow / ˈkæləʊ/ noun

1. Simon. born 1949, British actor and theatre director