screwball

1 of 2

noun

screw·​ball ˈskrü-ˌbȯl 

plural screwballs

1

: a baseball pitch that spins and breaks in the opposite direction to a curve

The students learned that most pitches—such as fastballs, curveballs, sliders and screwballs—spin because pitchers wrap their fingers around the ball and, in releasing it, whip them across its surface.

—Scientific American

Back in '34, he had made five future Hall of Famers whiff, one by one, and he had done it just as Fernando had, with a screwball—a pitch that breaks in toward a batter, opposite of a curveball.

—Tom Friend

2

informal : a whimsical or eccentric person

The local TV stations virtually ignored him, and The Atlanta Journal and Constitution portrayed him as a screwball with a harebrained scheme.

—William Oscar Johnson

screwball

2 of 2

adjective

informal

: extremely eccentric or whimsical : zany

a screwball comedy

his screwball charm

By some ditsy, screwball logic, the Cubs decided that Dean had shown enough of his old flair to warrant another season, and so they went ahead and asked him back.

—Paul Auster

Synonyms

Noun

• eccentric
• character
• oddball
• original
• loony
• zany

Adjective

• absurd
• silly
• stupid
• foolish
• insane
• crazy
• mad
• idiotic
• zany
• lunatic [informal]
• looney
• irrational
• loony

Examples of screwball in a Sentence

Noun

She really did that? What a screwball.

a screwball who liked to save lint and bits of string

Adjective

she's always off on some screwball plan

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Romance is in the air, along with epic historical dramas, screwball comedies and much more. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2025

Purple and fluoro-flecked Fair Isle clothed Anna Sui’s 1930s screwball comedy heroines. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 1 Aug. 2025

Adjective

The hallmarks of a Wes Anderson film are instantly recognizable: a retro-leaning aesthetic, dialogue that blends screwball wit with a deep pathos, and an immaculate set design scored by soft rock deep cuts. —Brett Braley, Robb Report, 30 July 2025

The ensuing ten-minute battle of wits had a screwball energy that Preston Sturges would have appreciated. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1908, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

circa 1936, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for screwball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale

Kids Definition

screwball

1 of 2 noun

screw·​ball ˈskrü-ˌbȯl 

1

: a baseball pitch that moves away from a straight path in a direction opposite to a curve

2

informal : a foolish or odd person

screwball

2 of 2 adjective

: zany entry 2