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Synonyms

screwy

American  
[skroo-ee] / ˈskru i /

adjective

Slang.
screwier, screwiest
  1. crazy; nutty.

    I think you're screwy, refusing an invitation to the governor's dinner.

  2. disconcertingly strange.

    There's something screwy about his story.

  3. absurdly peculiar or impractical; ridiculous.

    screwy ideas.


screwy British  
/ ˈskruːɪ /

adjective

  1. informal odd, crazy, or eccentric

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of screwy

First recorded in 1810–20; screw + -y 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.

See Examples For:

These buyouts are absurd, an outgrowth of a crazed marketplace and undeniably screwy optics at a state university.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025

Although they profess to be in this screwy loyalty gauntlet for similar reasons, not everyone’s impetus is the same.

From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2025

Finn Russell's screwy kicking performance, in which three potentially decisive conversion shots slipped by, won't escape unnoticed either.

From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2025

It’s difficult to conjure a more challenging and screwy labor market than that of wildland firefighting.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2023

“Swimming in pools is screwy anyway,” he said after a long, unusual silence as we walked toward the dormitory.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

But Bell is actually too convincing at playing a damaged woman saddled with dialogue that's only slightly screwier than what we'd encounter in a Lifetime movie script.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2022

But Bell is actually too convincing at playing a damaged woman saddled with dialogue that’s only slightly screwier than what we’d encounter in a Lifetime movie.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2022

And on the federal level, where every individual estate has an exemption this year of $5.34 million, the math for New York residents gets screwier still.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2014

But Stephanopoulos found common ground with Morris, slipping into the same role he played for Carville as an antidote to the resident genius' screwier ideas.

From Time Magazine Archive

Well, I suppose good plays have been written for screwier reasons, and I was in no mood to look a gift-author in the mouth.

From The Mind Digger by Winston K. Marks

It had to cap the screwiest two weekends at Cal since the late 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2014

In any view, two of the screwiest living artists are Painter Salvador Dali and Actor Harpo Marx.

From Time Magazine Archive

Jonathan Demme directed the screwiest and most original movie of 1980, and deserves a better commercial fate than he has so far received.

From Time Magazine Archive

Buck Weaver's screwiest activities are occasional booklets he prints at his own expense.

From Time Magazine Archive

The ship landed almost on top of a colony of the screwiest bunch of things you ever saw.

From The Unprotected Species by Melvin Sturgis

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