different between callow vs frivolous

English

Etymology

From Middle English calwe (“bald”), from Old English calu (“callow, bare, bald”), from Proto-Germanic *kalwaz (“bare, naked, bald”), from Proto-Indo-European gel(H)wo- (“naked, bald”). Cognate with West Frisian keal (“bald”), Dutch kaal (“bald”), German kahl (“bald”), Russian ?????? (gólyj, “nude”), Latin calvus (“bald”), Persian ??? (kal), Sanskrit ????? (kulvá).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?kælo?/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?kal??/
• Rhymes: -æl??

Adjective

callow (comparative callower or more callow, superlative callowest or most callow)

1. Unfledged (of a young bird).
2. (by extension) Immature, lacking in life experience.

   Antonyms: mature, experienced
3. Lacking color or firmness (of some kinds of insects or other arthropods, such as spiders, just after ecdysis); teneral.
4. Shallow or weak-willed.
5. (of a brick) Unburnt.
6. Of land: low-lying and liable to be submerged.
7. (obsolete) Bald.

Translations

Noun

callow (countable and uncountable, plural callows)

1. A callow young bird.
2. A callow or teneral phase of an insect or other arthropod, typically shortly after ecdysis, while the skin still is hardening, the colours have not yet become stable, and as a rule, before the animal is able to move effectively.
3. An alluvial flat.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “callow”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• low-cal

English

Etymology

From Latin fr?volus (“silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless”), with the ending modified to match -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f??v.?l.?s/
• Hyphenation: friv?o?lous

Adjective

frivolous (comparative more frivolous, superlative most frivolous)

1. Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner.
2. Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight.
3. (law, said of a lawsuit) Having no reasonable prospect of success because its claim is without merit, lacking a supporting legal or factual basis, while the filing party is, or should be, aware of this.
   • 2005, Factcheck.org^[1]:

     One of the major cost drivers in the delivery of health care are these junk and frivolous lawsuits.

Derived terms

• frivolent
• frivolously
• frivolousness

Related terms

• frivol
• frivolity

Translations

Further reading

• frivolous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• frivolous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.