Word.ws English Dictionary

screw loose

screw loose noun: a state of insanity or eccentricity.

Noun

screw loose (plural screws loose)

  1. (slang) A state of insanity or eccentricity.
    • I think there's a screw loose in that brain of hers!
    • Well, I don't say that he is strictly a lunatic, but there is obviously a screw loose somewhere.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
  2. (archaic, slang) A state of enmity or disagreement.
    • I understand there's a screw loose between you two, so I've brought Morton that you may shake hands, and be comfortable together.1830, Anna Maria Morgan, Horatio in Search of a Wife, page 155
    • There is evidently a screw loose between us and some or other of the countries from which, according to royal speeches, we are everlastingly receiving assurances of love and amity.1845, Times and Seasons, volume 6, page 1050

Synonyms of screw loose

Forms of screw loose

pluralscrews loose

Questions about screw loose

What does screw loose mean?
Screw loose means a state of insanity or eccentricity.
What part of speech is screw loose?
Screw loose is a noun.
What is the plural of screw loose?
The plural of screw loose is screws loose.

Words near screw loose in the dictionary

  1. screw it
  2. screw jack
  3. screw jacks
  4. screw key
  5. screw keys
  6. screw loose
  7. screw machine
  8. screw machines
  9. screw nail
  10. screw nails
  11. screw off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: screw loose (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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