as in absurd
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
Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
Where to watch: Disney+ 'Fly Me to the Moon'
There's screwball rom-com nostalgia at play in this throwback tale starring Scarlett Johansson as a marketing executive hired by NASA to sell the public on the 1969 mission to the moon.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 1 Aug. 2025
Since then, themes have included crime thrillers with La Jolla connections, screwball sparring matches and Hollywood classics.
—Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Adjective
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
Where to watch: Disney+ 'Fly Me to the Moon'
There's screwball rom-com nostalgia at play in this throwback tale starring Scarlett Johansson as a marketing executive hired by NASA to sell the public on the 1969 mission to the moon.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Noun
Purple and fluoro-flecked Fair Isle clothed Anna Sui’s 1930s screwball comedy heroines.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 1 Aug. 2025
Since then, themes have included crime thrillers with La Jolla connections, screwball sparring matches and Hollywood classics.
—Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwball
Adjective
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There’s no denying that catfish noodling is an absurd sport.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
11 Sep. 2025
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Barely any other media in recent times has given me an instant shock of glee or revulsion like this absurd anarcho-cartoon being stretched and squeezed to its most grotesque and wholesome clickbait limits.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For Mimi Pond, the desire to do a book about the Mitford sisters – six larger-than-life British eccentrics (and one brother) who created a stir in both British and American culture – was obvious.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
5 Sep. 2025
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For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Mea Culpa is Perry at his most knowingly silly, and a throwback to erotic thrillers of decades past.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Sep. 2025
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For every community of mass-shooter fandoms, there is another that is silly, joyous, productive, or totally harmless.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Indeed, the only character from The Office that actually carried over into the new series is Oscar, who serves as the lead accountant for Softees but gets dragooned into reporting and constructing Sudokus for the paper.—
Michael M. Rosen,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Instead, deaf viewers see unsynchronized plain white text on a black background and it is left to their imagination to infer those rich and nuanced character tomes essential for storytelling that hearing audiences take for granted.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And when Sam cooks up a truly stupid scheme to make some quick cash, there’s little doubt a heavy like Mickey isn’t going to like it.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
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There's a fine line between stupid and clever, indeed.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Oliver, Steve Martin’s Charles, and Selena Gomez’s Mabel work the case while navigating the usual constellation of oddballs that orbit them.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
9 Sep. 2025
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Russ then tries to resurrect his dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers — a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish team.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But giving someone as historically great as Derrick Henry added motivation, certainly may prove to be a foolish decision from Delpit.—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
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There’s highly capable support in the cast from the unfailingly superb Vázquez, emanating gravitas, humanity and barely contained anger at the increasing frequency and spread of wildfires and the foolish refusal of those in power to address the growing threat.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Rob Reiner — who directed, starred and co-wrote the original with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer — has once again directed the sequel, faithfully playing his role as filmmaker Marty DiBergi, complete with military baseball cap and a director’s viewfinder around his neck.—
Mark Kennedy,
Boston Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
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The performance began with an arrangement fairly faithful to Isbell’s original, with Boone accompanied by just an acoustic guitar.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Screwball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwball. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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