"screwball" meaning in English

See screwball in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈskɹuːbɔːl/ Audio: en-us-screwball.ogg [US] Forms: more screwball [comparative], most screwball [superlative]
Rhymes: -uːbɔːl Etymology: screw + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|screw|ball}} screw + ball Head templates: {{en-adj}} screwball (comparative more screwball, superlative most screwball)
  1. (originally US) Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird. Categories (topical): People Derived forms: screwball comedy Translations (crazy, offbeat, bizarre): verrückt (German), absurd (German), hirnverbrannt (German)
    Sense id: en-screwball-en-adj-0n2VCszP Disambiguation of People: 57 6 36

Noun

IPA: /ˈskɹuːbɔːl/ Audio: en-us-screwball.ogg [US] Forms: screwballs [plural]
Rhymes: -uːbɔːl Etymology: screw + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|screw|ball}} screw + ball Head templates: {{en-noun}} screwball (plural screwballs)
  1. (baseball) 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. Categories (topical): Baseball Translations (type of pitch): Screwball [masculine] (German), スクリュー (sukuryū) (Japanese)
    Sense id: en-screwball-en-noun-BlW6qAqS Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 48 26 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 20 60 20 Topics: ball-games, baseball, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports Disambiguation of 'type of pitch': 100 0
  2. (US) One who behaves in a crazy manner. Tags: US Translations (crazy person): чешит (češit) [masculine] (Bulgarian), sekopää (Finnish), fêlé [masculine] (French), Spinner [feminine] (German), Verrückter [masculine] (German), Irrer [masculine] (German), hirnverbrannter Typ [masculine] (German)
    Sense id: en-screwball-en-noun-Ym84g54i Categories (other): American English Disambiguation of 'crazy person': 4 96

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for screwball meaning in English (5.2kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
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        "2": "screw",
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  "etymology_text": "screw + ball",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "screwballs",
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  "pos": "noun",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The screwball is not thrown much because it tends to damage pitcher's arms."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "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."
      ],
      "id": "en-screwball-en-noun-BlW6qAqS",
      "links": [
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        "(baseball) 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."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "de",
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          "sense": "type of pitch",
          "tags": [
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        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ja",
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          "roman": "sukuryū",
          "sense": "type of pitch",
          "word": "スクリュー"
        }
      ]
    },
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      ],
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        {
          "text": "I will not listen to this screwball any longer."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who behaves in a crazy manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-screwball-en-noun-Ym84g54i",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) One who behaves in a crazy manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "češit",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "чешит"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "word": "sekopää"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "fêlé"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Spinner"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Verrückter"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Irrer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "hirnverbrannter Typ"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈskɹuːbɔːl/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-uːbɔːl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-screwball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3d/En-us-screwball.ogg/En-us-screwball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/En-us-screwball.ogg",
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  "etymology_text": "screw + ball",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "more screwball",
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    },
    {
      "form": "most screwball",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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          "_dis": "57 6 36",
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          "ref": "2013 January 11, Tom Shone, The Guardian",
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        }
      ],
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        "Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird."
      ],
      "id": "en-screwball-en-adj-0n2VCszP",
      "links": [
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          "zany",
          "zany"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(originally US) Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird."
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
          "word": "verrückt"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
          "word": "absurd"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
          "word": "hirnverbrannt"
        }
      ]
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    {
      "audio": "en-us-screwball.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/En-us-screwball.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "word": "screwball"
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  "etymology_text": "screw + ball",
  "forms": [
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      "tags": [
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  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        {
          "text": "The screwball is not thrown much because it tends to damage pitcher's arms."
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        "(baseball) 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."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
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        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
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      "categories": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I will not listen to this screwball any longer."
        }
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        "(US) One who behaves in a crazy manner."
      ],
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      "audio": "en-us-screwball.ogg",
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    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "type of pitch",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Screwball"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "sukuryū",
      "sense": "type of pitch",
      "word": "スクリュー"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "češit",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "чешит"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "word": "sekopää"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "fêlé"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Spinner"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Verrückter"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Irrer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "hirnverbrannter Typ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "screwball"
}

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  "forms": [
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      "form": "more screwball",
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    },
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      "form": "most screwball",
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  "lang_code": "en",
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        {
          "ref": "2013 January 11, Tom Shone, The Guardian",
          "text": "Also a big hand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed \"too entertaining\" for Academy voters.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird."
      ],
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        ],
        [
          "bizarre",
          "bizarre"
        ],
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(originally US) Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird."
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "ipa": "/ˈskɹuːbɔːl/"
    },
    {
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      "audio": "en-us-screwball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3d/En-us-screwball.ogg/En-us-screwball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/En-us-screwball.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
      "word": "verrückt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
      "word": "absurd"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "crazy, offbeat, bizarre",
      "word": "hirnverbrannt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "screwball"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.