screwed
English edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “The reference given does not support most of the claims.”) From screw + -ed.
- The modern sense of screwed originates in the mid-1600s with a sense of to screw as a means of "exerting pressure or coercion", probably in reference to instruments of torture (e.g. thumbscrews).[1] It quickly gained a wider general sense of "in a bind; in unfortunate inescapable circumstances". When the verb screw gained a sexual connotation in the early 1700s,[2] it joined the long-lasting association of sexual imagery as a metaphor for domination, leading to screwed gaining synonyms like fucked and shagged. On a more general note, this is a prime example of the frequent tendency for verb participles to evolve into participial adjectives.
- The sense meaning "intoxicated" is from the early 1800s, and is associated with the term screwy, and the idiom to have a screw loose.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
screwed (comparative more screwed, superlative most screwed)
- (slang, mildly vulgar) Beset with unfortunate circumstances that seem difficult or impossible to overcome; in imminent danger.
- They found out about our betrayal, so now we're screwed.
- (slang, British, dated) Intoxicated.
- 1889, Belgravia, volume 70, page 15:
- " […] Did you know that my husband came home intoxicated?"
Mrs. Brown laughed.
"Oh, not so bad as that, surely! Only a little 'screwed.' George was 'quisby,' too. But then its Christmas, you know."
- 1914 June, James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
- Besides they were dreadfully afraid that Freddy Malins might turn up screwed. They would not wish for worlds that any of Mary Jane's pupils should see him under the influence […]
Usage notes edit
- Often employed as a bowdlerization, or substitution, for fucked.
Usage notes edit
Because the sexual act as a metaphor for domination is a frequent association for the term 'screwed', it is potentially offensive in polite circles.
Synonyms edit
- (beset, vulgar): fucked, dicked, shagged (British); see also Thesaurus:in trouble
- (intoxicated): See Thesaurus:drunk
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
beset with unfortunate circumstances
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slang: intoxicated
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also edit
Verb edit
screwed
- simple past and past participle of screw
- He screwed the boards together tightly.
- I got screwed at the swap meet yesterday.
- 1641, Richard Chambers (merchant), quoted in Hannis Taylor, The Origin and Growth of the English Constitution: An Historical Treatise, Part II: The After-Growth of the Constitution, H.O. Houghton & Company (1889), p. 274,
- […] merchants are in no part of the world so screwed as in England. In Turkey, they have more encouragement.
References edit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “screw”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “screw”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.