noun
screwball
SKROO-bawl
noun
1
A baseball pitch thrown with a twisting wrist motion that curves opposite to a normal curveball.
"The pitcher struck him out with a wicked screwball."
2
(informal) A person who acts in an eccentric or crazy way.
"Her uncle is a real screwball who collects traffic cones."
adj
1
Eccentric, zany, or absurd, especially in a comic way.
"The film is a classic screwball comedy from the 1930s."
"They had a screwball plan to drive cross-country in a golf cart."
How to Use Screwball
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither an oddly-spinning baseball pitch, or (informally) someone or something wonderfully eccentric.
Common pairings
screwball comedy
a real screwball
throw a screwball
Word Forms
more screwball comparative, screwballs plural, most screwball superlative
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The pitcher struck him out with a wicked _____.
Etymology
From screw + ball, describing the pitch's odd twisting motion; the sense of "crazy person" grew out of that same idea of something spinning off in an unexpected direction.