callback hell

noun

The situation (chiefly in JavaScript) where callbacks are nested within other callbacks several levels deep, making it difficult to understand and maintain the code.

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Meanings

nouncallback hell (uncountable)
  1. colloquialuncountablecomputingThe situation (chiefly in JavaScript) where callbacks are nested within other callbacks several levels deep, making it difficult to understand and maintain the code.

    However, the use of callbacks can lead to a maintainability issue known as callback hell. We will now write a real-life example to showcase what a callback hell is and how easily we can end up dealing with it.

    2015, Remo H. Jansen, Learning TypeScript

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 回調地獄 /回调地狱
  • 回調地獄 /回调地狱 (huídiào dìyù)situation where callbacks are nested within other callbacks
Polish callback hell
  • callback hellsituation where callbacks are nested within other callbacks
Cite this entry
APA

callback hell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/callback%20hell

MLA

“callback hell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/callback%20hell. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “callback hell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/callback%20hell.

Source: callback hell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.