English Explanatory Dictionary

screwball

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A pitch thrown with added pressure by the index finger and a twisting wrist motion resulting in a motion to the right when thrown by a right-handed pitcher.
  2. One who behaves in a crazy manner.
  3. A screwball comedy.
adj
  1. Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird.

Pronunciation

/ˈskɹuːbɔːl/ en-us-screwball.ogg

Word forms

screwball screwballs more screwball most screwball

Etymology

From screw + ball. Compare typologically German Spinner (akin to spin). Also compare weirdo and weird, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, to spin”).

Related words

goofball oddball

Derived words

screwball comedy
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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