screwball
Americannoun
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Slang. an eccentric or irrational person; a nut.
When the FBI first looked into him, they thought he was a harmless screwball.
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Baseball. a pitched ball that curves toward the side of the plate from which it was thrown, in a trajectory opposite to that of a curve ball.
Has the once popular screwball vanished completely from the major leagues?
adjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of screwball
First recorded in 1865–70; in 1935–40 screwball for def. 2; screw + ball 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Scratch just beneath the film’s screwball surface and its beating heart as a food movie quickly reveals itself.
From Salon
In spirit, however, this redo is pure 1930s screwball comedy.
From Los Angeles Times
That’s why screwball comedies didn’t try to upend capitalism, just have some clever fun with it and let a simple love story stick the landing.
From Los Angeles Times
Before that, though, she inevitably reached back for “Call Me Maybe,” delivering the song while pulling daffy faces that made her look like the star of some forgotten ’30s screwball comedy.
From Los Angeles Times
“The Good Place” star proves she is as at home with screwball comedy as she is with drama.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
