screwball
screwball Lexical Profile
screwball Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
North American Crazy, eccentric, or absurdly unconventional; (of a film or comedy) characterized by fast-paced, farcical situations and quirky characters.
"The festival is screening a classic 1930s screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn."
• noun
North American An eccentric, erratic, or whimsical person.
"Everyone in the neighborhood knew him as a harmless screwball who built sculptures out of old bicycles."
North American In baseball, a pitched ball that curves in the direction opposite to a normal curveball, breaking toward the side of the pitcher's throwing arm.
"The left-handed relief pitcher baffled right-handed batters with a devastating screwball."
• Rhymes for screwball
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Originated in mid-19th-century cricket and later 1920s American baseball to describe a ball pitched with an unusual, reverse-breaking spin; the figurative sense of an eccentric person or zany comedy emerged in the 1930s.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.