The antonym used in the passage that helps determine the meaning of "callous" is "tender." In this context, Douglass contrasts his own sensitivity to pain ("tender") with the insensitivity ("callous") of his fellow slaves who had become accustomed to the lash of the whip. This comparison indicates that "callous" means emotionally or physically insensitive or unfeeling.
I suffered more anxiety than most of my fellow-slaves. . . . Their backs had been made familiar with the bloody lash, so that they had become callous; mine was yet tender; for while at Baltimore I got few whippings. . . .
—Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
Frederick Douglass
Which antonym helped you determine the meaning of callous?
1 answer