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.
Hollywood thrived in this tough decade partly by catering to people’s need for fantasy and escapism, through screwball comedies, adventure stories and the elaborate musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
Despite the screwball setup, “The Hitch” is, as much as anything, a moving meditation on loneliness, longing and familial short leashes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
"The Residence" is an "Upstairs, Downstairs" screwball murder mystery set in the East Wing, the residence wing of the White House, during an Australian state dinner.
From Salon • Apr. 2, 2025
Cordelia Cupp on Netflix’s Shondaland-produced screwball caper “The Residence,” premiering Thursday, Aduba plays an extremely perceptive, bird-watching investigator whose unconventional methods and unblinking looks help solve a White House murder mystery.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2025
“I’ll bet this tin-plated screwball is talking about the Energy Converter itself.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
