different between unreasonable vs screwy

English

Etymology

From un- +? reason +? -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n??i?z(?)n?bl?/
• Hyphenation: un?rea?son?able

Adjective

unreasonable (comparative more unreasonable, superlative most unreasonable)

1. Without the ability to reason; unreasoning.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene 3,^[1]

     Hold thy desperate hand:

     Art thou a man? thy form cries out thou art:

     Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote

     The unreasonable fury of a beast:

     Unseemly woman in a seeming man!

2. Not reasonable; going beyond what could be expected or asked for.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Acts 25:27,^[2]

     For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 11,^[3]

     The will of those who never allow their will to be disputed, unless they happen to be in a good humour, when they relax proportionally, is almost always unreasonable.

   Antonym: reasonable

Derived terms

• unreasonableness
• unreasonably

Translations

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