1
as in to distort
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
screwed up his face at the taste of the medicine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to squeeze
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
managed to screw his siblings out of their share of the inheritance
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of screw
Semi-screwed There’s a world in which Colby was the most screwed over by the rock draw — because Dee and Emily are friends who already played together, and both were aligned with Cirie — but that world is one in which he was not injured and likely limping out of the game anyway.
—
Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Apr. 2026
As if she’d been presented with a tidy, screw-like riddle from the Sphynx.
—Literary Hub, 2 Apr. 2026
A lot of times, much of a Hollywood memoir is someone saying this person screwed me over, this bad thing happened, and so on.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026
Pet owners will love the hair screw tool, which expertly removes even long hair from upholstery without getting tangled.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2026
In another part of the factory, a worker used a wooden stick, like a tongue compressor at a doctor’s office, to scrape excess bits of explosive out of the grooves inside each shell, ensuring that the base would screw on smoothly.
—Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026
The result is that many contestants are frequent collaborators and have long histories with one another, adding extra juice to their attempts to screw each other over.
—Claire McNear, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2026
Another big upgrade in terms of the Neo’s repairability compared to previous MacBooks, according to reviewers, is its screw-in battery.
—Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 15 Mar. 2026
Then there are the indirect ways stress can screw with your gut.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 13 Mar. 2026
Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Apr. 2026
As if she’d been presented with a tidy, screw-like riddle from the Sphynx.
—Literary Hub, 2 Apr. 2026
A lot of times, much of a Hollywood memoir is someone saying this person screwed me over, this bad thing happened, and so on.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026
Pet owners will love the hair screw tool, which expertly removes even long hair from upholstery without getting tangled.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2026
In another part of the factory, a worker used a wooden stick, like a tongue compressor at a doctor’s office, to scrape excess bits of explosive out of the grooves inside each shell, ensuring that the base would screw on smoothly.
—Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026
The result is that many contestants are frequent collaborators and have long histories with one another, adding extra juice to their attempts to screw each other over.
—Claire McNear, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2026
Another big upgrade in terms of the Neo’s repairability compared to previous MacBooks, according to reviewers, is its screw-in battery.
—Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 15 Mar. 2026
Then there are the indirect ways stress can screw with your gut.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 13 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screw
Verb
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For Wagner specifically, time feels distorted.—
Jason Beede,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Apr. 2026
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Obadia sees the Optimus question as evidence of how the racial framing itself distorts perception.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Focusing on everyday shapewear, Yummie hugs instead of squeezes like traditional shapewear that can be extremely tight and constrictive.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2026
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All movies need a 45-day exclusive theatrical window, because small and mid-budget movies that hit streaming sooner are getting squeezed.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Kinks are critical in determining where a material deforms, appearing in situations such as metals bending permanently or DNA strands separating.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Mar. 2026
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Don’t forget the gasp-inducing images of dicks mangled by one Dr. Loria in New York City, who has proudly refused malpractice insurance but allegedly left a number of men deformed after pumping them up with chunky-looking filler.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The chat room was on fire, because Magnus Carlsen had lost to the kid—Hans Niemann—and then implied that Hans had cheated.—
Ben Mezrich,
Vanity Fair,
6 Apr. 2026
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Most people would agree that cheating and planning a school shooting are hardly equal offenses, and Borgli doesn't totally stick the landing by sweeping Emma's past impulses under the rug.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Bridges contorts his body, and jacks up an errant layup, but the play isn’t done there.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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Other everyday situations — from Ubers to trains to even cold plunges — require similar adjustments, often forcing him to contort his body just to fit.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Ten miles away, members of the Navy's SEAL Team Six plucked the missing weapons system officer from the mountainside.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
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The United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.—
Seung Min Kim,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Her lips were lightly blurred (as is the contemporary trend) and brown-nude, while eyeshadow was kept light, and lashes delicately curled.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
8 Apr. 2026
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Kimmell gained the Ducks’ zone, faking a slap shot and then curling back toward the blue line to find a trailing Haula.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The first film came out in spring 2020 when everyone was stuck at home during Covid.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
8 Apr. 2026
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But when one song is so dominant that everything else disappears in its shadow, the label tends to stick.—
Ryan Brennan
April 8,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Screw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screw. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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