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.
Written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, it’s utterly virtuosic screwball absurdity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
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
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
“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.
