screwball

American  

[skroo-bawl] / ˈskruˌbɔl /

noun

1. Slang. an eccentric or irrational person; a nut.

   When the FBI first looked into him, they thought he was a harmless screwball.

2. 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?

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adjective

1. Slang. eccentric or irrational; nutty.

   What a screwball idea!

screwball British  

/ ˈskruːˌbɔːl /

noun

1. an odd or eccentric person

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adjective

1. odd; zany; eccentric

Etymology

Origin of screwball

First recorded in 1865–70; in 1935–40 screwball for def. 2; screw + ball ¹

Example Sentences

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

Which is where “Good Fortune,” for all its grasp of how Depression-era screwball comedies made the filthy rich mockable, struggles to match its issue-driven humor with its fix-it heart.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

The latest show in her Netflix deal, though, portrays it as a blank collection of staircases and parlors not unlike others where all-star ensembles marry screwball comedy with murder.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 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