different between demented vs screwy

English

Etymology

Past participle of dement, from Latin d?ment?re.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??m?nt?d/

Adjective

demented (comparative more demented, superlative most demented)

1. Insane or mentally ill.
2. Suffering from dementia.
3. (informal) Crazy; ridiculous.
   • c. 1990, How to Play Super C (PDF) (instruction manual), Konami, page 4:

     One of these new recruits is Jagger Froid, a demented alien from the Black Hole Galaxy, who dishes out punishment with a laser-sharp tongue.

   a demented idea

Translations

Verb

demented

1. simple past tense and past participle of dement

See also

• mentally ill

English

Etymology

screw +? -y. 1820, original meaning “tipsy, slightly drunk”; meaning “crazy, ridiculous” first recorded 1887.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sk?u?.i/
• Rhymes: -u?i

Adjective

screwy (comparative screwier or more screwy, superlative screwiest or most screwy)

1. (informal) Crazy; silly; ridiculous

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insane
2. (archaic, informal) Tipsy; slightly drunk.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:drunk

   • 1868, Memorials of a theological college. London: Houlston & Wright. 1868. p9

     "A tipsy man," said Spearman, "is generally noisy ; and I confess I was screwy on Wednesday."

3. (archaic) Exacting; extortionate; close.
4. (archaic) Worthless.

Quotations

• 1840, Hal of the West. Brilliant run with the Puckeridge hounds. The Sporting Magazine. March, 1840. Vol XX, No 119. p383

  " I saw my hearty out of the yard, with his pink peeping out of his Macintosh, on his screwy old black horse, and I heard from my fair waiter that he had been vaunting that he would lick us all into fits."

• 1877, Edward Peacock, English Dialect Society. A glossary of words used in the wapentakes of Manley and Corringham. London: Trubner & Co. 1877. p120

  "Screwy [skroo'i], adj. mean ; stingy ; parsimonious. Alto, slightly intoxicated."

Related terms

• have a screw loose
• screwball
• screw up