as in silly
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
she's always off on some screwball plan
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
a screwball who liked to save lint and bits of string
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of screwball
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.
—Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2026
Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.
—Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Adjective
The best of all sports-movie subgenres, football films have given us great characters – real and fictional – and a bunch of awesome cinematic moments in everything from screwball comedies to real-life narratives.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.
—Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
Noun
Nessa Hyams, a groundbreaking casting director of the New Hollywood whose work on such 1970s masterpieces as Peter Bogdanovich’s screwball comedy What’s Up, Doc?, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist and Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, died January 9 at her home in Manhattan.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2026
Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.
—Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwball
Adjective
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The group never uses the word unless there is something silly going on.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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For Grabinski, what unites all of these projects is the fine art of creating a world that is emotionally smart yet deeply silly, fun, and expressive.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In 2015, Robert Durst, a wealthy eccentric linked to two killings and his wife’s disappearance, was arrested by the FBI in New Orleans on a murder warrant a day before HBO aired the final episode of a serial documentary about his life.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Feb. 2026
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On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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This series is inspired by the shocking and absurd true story of the suburban dentist who built a drug empire behind the façade of the American dream.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2026
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To consider Karaban as anything but an abject success story is absurd.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Bruccoleri described the character’s emotional arc in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Apr. 2026
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Then the studio structured trailers and marketing around an unspecified, unspeakable disclosure by Zendaya’s character that derails the wedding plans (and imperils the characters’ romantic union) to stoke maximum curiosity.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Of course, sometimes the situation is more serious than stupid.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
31 Mar. 2026
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The American people are not stupid and will not accept more failure theater from Republicans in Congress.—
Lauren Green,
The Washington Examiner,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Broadway team may have hoped to heighten the contradictions further, by focussing more tightly on New York oddballs under pressure.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
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In Season 1, eight years after an unforgivable mistake nukes his promising college football career, hotshot quarterback Russ Holliday (Powell) tries to resurrect his dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers — a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Evening rush-hour commuters — who thought winter was over — felt foolish after the city was socked with a record-breaking spring snowfall.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
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The glamorous branding of premium cards can also lead some consumers to make foolish mistakes by running up high-interest credit card debt.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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This is not your $65,000-a-year job, someone who’s a janitor and is trying to talk in a school board meeting who really could lose his job for this opinion, which is insane.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2026
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Three years after Steven Yeun and Ali Wong captured the attention of viewers eager to see the culmination of their characters' insane road rage fight, the drama series is back, this time focusing on two couples with a new kind of beef.—
Madeleine Janz,
PEOPLE,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Screwball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwball. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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