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View synonyms for screwball

screwball

[ skroo-bawl ]

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?



adjective

  1. Slang. eccentric or irrational; nutty:

    What a screwball idea!

screwball

/ ˈskruːˌbɔːl /

noun

  1. an odd or eccentric person


adjective

  1. odd; zany; eccentric

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Word History and Origins

Origin of screwball1

First recorded in 1865–70; in 1935–40 screwball fordef 2; screw + ball 1

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Example Sentences

It pops with screwball banter and the excitement of early 1950s TV.

Nine years sober, she’s an oddly appealing, well-meaning screwball.

Until I watched “Bringing Up Baby,” the 1938 screwball comedy.

The show struggles to find its signature screwball pacing, and it can’t figure out how to circle around emotions without addressing them face on, as the earlier seasons did at their best.

From Vox

We never tell him, 'Great screwball,' though, because then his elbow would hurt.

His Girl Friday (1940) A must for anyone interested in journalism (or screwball comedies).

The quirky tenor of his voice, combined with his observant, mocking tone, gelled perfectly with the screwball proceedings.

Their screwball-style repartee—intellectual rather than romantic—reveals not a sexual chemistry, but a winning comedic one.

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, by G.K. Chesterton—A nightmare all right: lurid, screwball, and grotesque.

An unpredictable, erratic screwball but one of the finest rocket riders who ever flashed through the void.

"This is what I got out of checking all the screwball factories I could reach personal and by mail," Clocker said.

Whatever came up—a screwball flying saucer or a berserk psycho waving a gun.

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[ak-suh-lot-l ]

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