screwed

adj

"screwed" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“screwed” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,176. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,176
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Beset with unfortunate circumstances that seem difficult or impossible to overcome; in imminent danger.

Corpus desk

Index EN-screwed · screwed · English

screwed · rank #7,176 · 11 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,176
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH recruitment

Nearest frequency peer: recruitment (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “screwed”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “screwed” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

screwed vs sewed
71% similar
screwed vs skewed
71% similar
screwed vs shrewd
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for screwed
PropertyValue
Headwordscrewed
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters7
Frequency rank#7,176
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “screwed”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).screwedlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “recruitment” (#7,175), “shades” (#7,177), “puppy” (#7,174). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “screwed” is #7,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around screwed, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,176 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for screwed, with forms such as "csrewed", "sccrewed", and "scerwed". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "sewed", "skewed", "shrewd", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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). It quickly gained a wider general sense o… The correct English form is screwed, spelled S-C-R-E-W-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Beset with unfortunate circumstances that seem difficult or impossible to overcome; in imminent danger.
  2. 2
    Intoxicated.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how screwed appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They found out about our betrayal, so now we're screwed.
  2. "[…] 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."

Etymology

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). 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, 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.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • csrewed
  • sccrewed
  • scerwed
  • screewd
  • screwde
  • screwedd
  • screwwed
  • scrrewed
  • scrweed
  • srcewed
  • sscrewed

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of screwed - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

csrewed2sccrewed1scerwed2screewd2screwde2screwedd1screwwed1scrrewed1
Edit distance from "screwed"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "screwed"?
"screwed" is spelled S-C-R-E-W-E-D.
What does "screwed" mean?
As an adjective, "screwed" means: Beset with unfortunate circumstances that seem difficult or impossible to overcome; in imminent danger.
What words are commonly confused with "screwed"?
"screwed" is commonly confused with "sewed", "skewed", "shrewd". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "screwed"?
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). It quickly gained a wider gener... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "screwed", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list