Etymology

screwball

S1C3R1E1W4B3A1L1L1

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

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”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.