Synonyms

distort

American

[dih-stawrt] / dɪˈstɔrt /

verb (used with object)

to twist awry or out of shape; make crooked or deformed.

Arthritis had distorted his fingers.
to give a false, perverted, or disproportionate meaning to; misrepresent.

to distort the facts.

Synonyms:

misstate, falsify, twist, misconstrue, pervert
Electronics. to reproduce or amplify (a signal) inaccurately by changing the frequencies or unequally changing the delay or amplitude of the components of the output wave.

distort British

/ dɪˈstɔːt /

verb

(often passive) to twist or pull out of shape; make bent or misshapen; contort; deform
to alter or misrepresent (facts, motives, etc)
electronics to reproduce or amplify (a signal) inaccurately, changing the shape of the waveform

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See misrepresent.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of distort

1580–90; from Latin distortus (past participle of distorquēre “to distort”), equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + tor(qu)- (stem of torquēre “to twist”) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

Distort means to twist out of shape. When you look at a tree through a twisting kaleidoscope, you distort its image, making its branches and leaves look wavy and misshapen. Distort is a verb that means to change the shape of something. You can distort pretzel dough by twisting it into the shape of an "S" instead of a normal pretzel shape. You can also distort, or change, the meaning of something. When one distorts the truth, it might not be an out-and-out lie; it could just be an exaggeration — like telling your pals you caught a six-foot tuna when you actually landed a six-inch minnow.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing distort

Twists and Turns: Tor

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Metamorphosis

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

distort distorts distorted distorting

The conflation of spirituality and naked self-interest weaves throughout “Your Mother” as both Latif and Hwan distort their religions’ beliefs to justify their actions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Extracting such a weak signal required the researchers to carefully account for many different sources of interference that could distort the measurements.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

Such choices don’t distort the market—they are integral to the market and unavoidable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

She added: "No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or not as real to me as this love that we share."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

A good documentarian assembles snippets and shards to create something that illuminates reality, whereas a good humorist distorts or reframes reality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Corruption doesn’t just slow progress, it distorts it. It raises costs, weakens competition, and erodes the trust that markets depend on. It’s not a victimless problem,” Johnson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

Proposed by Albert Einstein in 1915, general relativity describes gravity as the bending of spacetime by mass, similar to how a heavy object distorts a stretched surface.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026

"When you go through something like that so young it kind of distorts your reality for a long time," Pesante said.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

Instead of making her clients beautiful, she distorts them.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

In retrospect, Robert Freeman’s autumnal, artfully distorted photograph was an entirely apt image for a worldlier, darker, more grown-up Beatles record.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Bianco thinks the era of financial repression has given investors a distorted view of what returns they should expect from stocks and bonds.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

Instead, he mentally revisited the many things that could have distorted the measurement, including small variations in temperature and pressure.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Some critics think a 2024 move from phone-based to online surveys by Michigan might have distorted its sentiment readings, for example.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

We recognize the smooth distorted faces, the helmets; they are French.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

French motorists are clogging TotalEnergies service stations to fill up with discount gasoline but its rivals are crying foul, accusing the energy giant of distorting competition with the encouragement of the government.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

But the science he was distorting is real - and much more interesting than his original claim.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Any assertion that the Mayor does not think smoke is dangerous is distorting her remarks and taking them out of context,” said Morales.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

The jump in prices in certain sectors highlights the ways that the spending habits of the wealthy are distorting the economy.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 13, 2026

Beside me, the student's eyes swam with a distorting cataract of tears, his features rigid as though he struggled within himself.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023