as in inexperienced
lacking in adult experience or maturity
a story about a callow youth who learns the value of hard work and self-reliance
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of callow
Aside from the New York Giants’ capitalizing on John Harbaugh’s sudden availability, the most memorable parts of this period will be owners behaving like amateurs in public and then defaulting to their callow and superficial hiring practices.
—
Jerry Brewer,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
The younger versions of Noah and Allie, callow and skittish, are laid out in broad strokes.
—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
At a moment when American architecture was caught between an exhausted Modernism and a callow Postmodernism, Frank Gehry showed the way forward.
—
Martin Filler,
The New York Review of Books,
12 Dec. 2025
The callow striver Redmond Barry is played by 1970s heartthrob Ryan O’Neal, in one of his best performances, a reluctant conscript in the British army after leaving his Irish home in disgrace.
—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for callow
Jerry Brewer,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
The younger versions of Noah and Allie, callow and skittish, are laid out in broad strokes.
—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
At a moment when American architecture was caught between an exhausted Modernism and a callow Postmodernism, Frank Gehry showed the way forward.
—
Martin Filler,
The New York Review of Books,
12 Dec. 2025
The callow striver Redmond Barry is played by 1970s heartthrob Ryan O’Neal, in one of his best performances, a reluctant conscript in the British army after leaving his Irish home in disgrace.
—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for callow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for callow
Adjective
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Over the same period, entry-level head count at the high-intensity firms rose 12%, contradicting predictions and fears that young or inexperienced workers would be most at risk of losing their jobs to AI.
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Immer and Lois work with land stewards to find projects that make sense for eager but often inexperienced volunteers.
Adjective
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In practice, portions of the automation framework still feel slightly immature.
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These are the immature stages of small brown moths.
Adjective
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Programming includes individual and family mental wellness counseling, lifestyle empowerment consultations, and adolescent nutritional consultations.
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At another section of the hospital, teens in hospital scrubs walked the quiet halls of the adolescent unit with their lunch trays.
Adjective
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As adult influencers dominate online fashion culture, and tweens and teens see the same content as adults, there are fewer spaces for young people to develop styles of their own.
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While veterans jockey for new contracts during free agency, young players are getting their tryout opportunities with NBA summer league games beginning this week.
Cite this Entry
“Callow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/callow. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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