screwball

English

Etymology

From screw ‎ ball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskɹuːbɔːl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːbɔːl

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.

   The screwball is not thrown much because it tends to damage pitcher's arms.

2. (US) One who behaves in a crazy manner.

   I will not listen to this screwball any longer.

Translations

type of pitch

• German: Screwball m
• Japanese: スクリュー (ja) (sukuryū)

crazy person

• Bulgarian: чешит (bg) m (češit)
• Finnish: sekopää (fi)
• French: fêlé (fr) m
• German: Spinner (de) f, Verrückter (de) m, Irrer (de) m, hirnverbrannter Typ m

Adjective

screwball (comparative more screwball, superlative most screwball)

1. (originally US) Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird.
   • 2013 January 11, Tom Shone, The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

Derived terms

• screwball comedy

Translations

crazy, offbeat, bizarre

• German: verrückt (de), absurd (de), hirnverbrannt