screwy

adjective

ˈskrü-ē 

screwier; screwiest

1

: very absurd, eccentric, or unusual

a screwy idea

screwy logic

screwy weather

Goldstein realized something was screwy when he went online the next day and looked at his [bank] accounts.

—David Lazarus

If you're like me, you're thinking, "No way. There's something screwy with that survey." It seems to defy conventional wisdom.

—Jeff Hawkes

2

: lacking reason or mental soundness

Human beings are a screwy bunch. We'll go to any length to fit an artificial idea of what we ought to be, even if it means confusing ourselves and everyone else in the bargain.

—Robert Kirby

screwiness noun

Synonyms

• bizarre
• bizarro
• cranky
• crazy
• curious
• eccentric
• erratic
• far-out
• funky
• funny
• kinky
• kooky
• kookie
• odd
• off-kilter
• off-the-wall
• offbeat
• out-of-the-way
• outlandish
• outré
• peculiar
• quaint
• queer
• queerish
• quirky
• remarkable
• rum [chiefly British]
• spaced-out
• strange
• wacky
• whacky
• way-out
• weird
• weirdo
• wild

Examples of screwy in a Sentence

I knew something was screwy.

the counterfeit bills are poorly done and would look screwy to even the untrained eye

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, this outrageously funky genre blend — a pitch-black horror comedy about screwy siblings turning motorists and motel guests into scrumptious jerky — deserves its a special spot in the greater midnight movie pantry. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Oct. 2024

In Election Betting Markets After First Presidential Debate Sometimes the data on a particular report look screwy. —Bill Conerly, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024

The facts surrounding Perry’s demise are screwy from the start, with each new revelation just adding to the whole dreadful unreal only-in-Hollywood-maybe tilt and swerve. —Erik Hedegaard, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2024

Besides that behavior, the thread is full of all sorts of reports of Google's VPN program getting screwy with the Windows DNS settings. —Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 2 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

screwy

adjective

ˈskrü-ē 

screwier; screwiest

1

: oddly different and unfamiliar

knew something was screwy

2

informal : lacking reason or mental soundness

completely screwy people

screwiness noun