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screwball.

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.

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈskɹuːbɔːl/
  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.

    The screwball is not thrown much because it tends to damage pitcher's arms.
  2. One who behaves in a crazy manner.

    US · derogatory · informal
    I will not listen to this screwball any longer.
  3. A screwball comedy.

Where this word comes from

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”).

adj/ˈskɹuːbɔːl/
  1. Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird.

    derogatory · informal
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.