Synonyms

contort

American

[kuhn-tawrt] / kənˈtɔrt /

verb (used with object)

to twist, bend, or draw out of shape; distort.

verb (used without object)

to become twisted, distorted, or strained.

His face contorted into a grotesque sneer.

contort British

/ kənˈtɔːt /

verb

to twist or bend severely out of place or shape, esp in a strained manner

"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

Other Word Forms

contortive adjective

Etymology

Origin of contort

1555–65; < Latin contortus twisted together, past participle of contorquēre. See con-, tort

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.

A figure was walking swiftly past a top-floor window, and its face was contorted with anger.

From Literature

Coal took an early shower and contorted himself trying to extract the splinters from hard-to-reach places with a pair of tweezers.

From Literature

Acquiring the semiautonomous Danish territory would further elevate his claims to greatness and the status of legend in his own contorted reality.

From Salon

Her contorted expression is rotted by anguish, as though life’s unbearable burdens have laid waste to their latest victim.

From Salon

As I crouched behind a rippling fountain, stretching and contorting my body to attain the correct angle, I began to wonder, “Do the Lumineers think I’m some kind of a lunatic?”

From Los Angeles Times

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