Synonyms

curveball

American

[kurv-bawl] / ˈkɜrvˌbɔl /

Or curve ball

noun

Baseball.

a pitch with a downward spin that causes the ball to drop and veer as it approaches home plate, away from the side from which it was thrown.

He started perfecting his curveball during his junior year in high school.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

curveballs

plural

Etymology

Origin of curveball

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

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.

See Examples For:

curveball curveballs

I never expected life to throw me this curveball.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

He dotted the upper rail with his fastball, threw his curveball for both swing-and-miss and called strikes, and mixed in his changeup to right-handed batters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

But a scheduling curveball this year is shaking up the routine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

But only moments after the game's traitors were selected, a huge curveball was thrown when Richard E Grant did something no one has done on the show before.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

His eyes squint; he’s probably nervous about the curveball I’m throwing his way.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

They wanted to include the type of curveballs that were crucial to the DNA of their other legal dramas into this setting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

No curveballs, but then there was never going to be.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

“Can’t wait to see him trade home runs for heel leads and curveballs for cha-cha-cha,” Hough wrote on Instagram.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

“There’s going to be all sorts of curveballs thrown at you, sometimes faster than you hope,” Joly said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

All he did was set the Say Hey Kid down swinging — on three straight curveballs.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023