as in silly
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
she's always off on some screwball plan
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
a screwball who liked to save lint and bits of string
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of screwball
Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 26 Nov. 2025
Cofta excels at sweet sexy screwball characters such as Carol.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 Nov. 2025
Much more effective than all that strained screwball is the drama of Ron on the sidelines with Jay’s longtime personal publicist Liz (Laura Dern), busy putting out fires.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Adjective
The show mostly relies on an on-the-nose screwball bigotry.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 26 Nov. 2025
Cofta excels at sweet sexy screwball characters such as Carol.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
In practice, zero of its emotional resonance comes from this storyline and 100 percent comes from Judy and Nick’s bond, which takes the shape of a bickering screwball rom-com couple.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 Nov. 2025
Much more effective than all that strained screwball is the drama of Ron on the sidelines with Jay’s longtime personal publicist Liz (Laura Dern), busy putting out fires.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwball
Adjective
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On one memorable occasion when a Nazi came to town and threatened to burn a Q’uran and then march through the Somali neighborhood, water balloons and silly string.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
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The whole idea seems silly, but its impact could potentially increase the cost of aviation and affect flight safety and operations.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.—
Maya Singer,
Vogue,
1 Feb. 2026
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The late Catherine O’Hara had an uncanny ability to find the eccentric in anyone.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Sentimental music, runaway kegs and brutally honest humor collide, making Bud Light’s Super Bowl moment feel effortless, absurd and perfectly timed.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
6 Feb. 2026
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Mike begins to struggle with the idea of doing something that might finally give his life (and his death) meaning, and although the film goes in absurd directions, Gavras sells it by pitching everything at the level of epic satire, his grandiose images working in tandem with moments of broad humor.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The renegade baseball general manager in Moneyball, for instance, was later played by Brad Pitt, while the characters in The Big Short were portrayed by Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Pitt again, among others.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
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The space’s custom art was created by Amazonian artist Winny Tapajós, portraying a mischievous garden scene full of whimsical characters.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
Robb Report,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Being able to be in a room full of comedians being stupid and funny like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
4 Feb. 2026
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Republican primary voters who do stupid things and vote for candidates with no chance of winning suffer the consequences.—
Kevin Igoe,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Shi’s bottle list encompasses an idiosyncratic mix of classics and oddballs, including stroppy Austrian natural whites alongside multi-thousand-dollar Burgundies, funky low-intervention oranges from Greece, a few bottles from the Japanese winery Coco Farm.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
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If anything, O’Hara’s brilliance came from her ability to unearth the oddball in anybody.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Counting on one of the league’s most expensive talents to play meaningful minutes from here on out at his age with a track record like that is nearly as foolish as Nico trading a perennial MVP candidate at 26.—
Kevin Sherrington
Feb. 4,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
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The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Last week, the wind-power green scam artists were back in federal court, arguing to be permitted to keep squandering billions more on those insane offshore windmills that produce next to no energy, but plenty of pollution.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
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That’s the best reaction to these stupid, insane men ruling the world now and trying to grab and dominate the world.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Screwball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwball. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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