Screwtape

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One of a set of slow-tempo, lo-fi psychedelic mixtapes created by DJ Screw around 1992

    "In addition, slab riders were not only playing the screwtapes in their decks, they were also rapping on them."

Verb
  1. 1
    To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish.

    "His collection of songlines and timelines snarled at him like a screwtaped confession."

Example

More examples

"His collection of songlines and timelines snarled at him like a screwtaped confession."

Etymology

Etymology 1

In reference to the C. S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters (1942), about an inexperienced demon sent to tempt a man to sin, from screw + tape.

Etymology 2

After DJ Screw, the Houston Southsider who produced the tapes.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.