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
That’s priceless in a screwball murder movie in which everyone’s soul is for sale.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
A hospital room scene featuring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson, Lenny Venito and Kathryn Hahn is a modern screwball master class.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2025
As we shall see, many prescriptive rules originated for screwball reasons, impede clear and graceful prose, and have been flouted by the best writers for centuries.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
