screwball

plural screwballs

1. ball gamesA 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. USderogatoryinformalOne who behaves in a crazy manner.

   I will not listen to this screwball any longer.

3. A screwball comedy.

comparative more screwball · superlative most screwball

1. derogatoryinformalCrazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird.

   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.

   2013 January 11, Tom Shone, The Guardian

   1 more example

   Unleashed as part of the second wave of Nicktoons, Rocko's Modern Life introduced young viewers to the sort of existential crises that adults face daily, all while delighting both kids and grownups with witty observational humor, screwball characters, and subversive gags.

   2020, Christopher J. Olson, CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, The Greatest Cult Television Shows of All Time, page 170