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
A.a. Dowd, Chron, 12 May 2023
Each event becomes screwball one-act with different chaos ensembles.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2023
Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 14 Apr. 2025
Zink, who has lived in and around that city for many years, catalogs the ghosts that haunt it with a voice that is cool and fastidious and possessed of a screwball comic sensibility rooted in pain.
—New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Adjective
Here, Johnson applies a screwball procedural framework to a true story of tech-world boom and bust, building his movie on a clash of values and personalities.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 12 May 2023
Each event becomes screwball one-act with different chaos ensembles.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2023
Noun
Some of the marketing language and early reviews use words like screwball comedy and rom-com, but this film’s tone is different too, using the characters’ friendships and careers to create a funny but more sweet and poignant film.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 14 Apr. 2025
Zink, who has lived in and around that city for many years, catalogs the ghosts that haunt it with a voice that is cool and fastidious and possessed of a screwball comic sensibility rooted in pain.
—New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for screwball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screwball
Adjective
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If a couple players on the Dodgers can make a silly comment, so can the owner of the Yankees.—
Bill Shaikin,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2025
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The artwork is silly and exaggerated to capture youngsters’ attention.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
28 May 2025
Noun
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To take her mind off him, Agathe meets an Austen-like family of eccentrics running the retreat and the sometimes pretentious writers attending it.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
22 May 2025
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But the settlers’ belief in the value of public goods and embrace of independent thinkers remain woven into the character of the city, which continues to attract artists, eccentrics and writers.—
Isabelle Taft,
New York Times,
4 May 2025
Adjective
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One thing that’s been a challenge to satirists in the last 10 years is that reality has become so absurd, with the dumbest possible things happening every day, that there doesn’t always seem to be another level for satire to go to.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2025
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Read it because existence is absurd, and laughter might be the most intelligent response available.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
Noun
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For one final time, there is cause to raise a glass to a character who, for better and worse, is the club’s player of the season.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
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The prospect of playing a character closer to home calls to them.—
Peyton Dix,
Them.,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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Camp, stupid, joyful—to both own and access—Labubu has taken over.—
Lara Johnson-Wheeler,
Vogue,
31 May 2025
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This is just stupid how successful this is, but that’s really underselling it.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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To write off the Israeli leader would be foolish, especially with new elections not required until late 2026.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
22 May 2025
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His writing is so human—his people are foolish in such human ways.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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Tauruses will go crazy for something chic, functional, and soft to the touch.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
9 Feb. 2023
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Before getting into the chaos of episode 5, that episode 4 cliff hanger was crazy.—
Calie Schepp,
EW.com,
6 Feb. 2023
Adjective
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And Just Like That is almost upon us—and with it, another series full of increasingly maximal, mad fashion choices.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
22 May 2025
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For others, a mad scramble between work and swim meets, baseball tournaments or shopping before shelves go bare and the Trump tariffs price everything beyond reach.—
Mark Barabak,
Mercury News,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Screwball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screwball. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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