contorted
Americanadjective
-
twisted in a violent manner; distorted.
-
twisted back on itself; convoluted.
adjective
-
twisted out of shape
-
(esp of petals and sepals in a bud) twisted so that they overlap on one side
Other Word Forms
- contortedly adverb
- contortedness noun
- intercontorted adjective
- uncontorted adjective
- uncontortedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of contorted
Explanation
Use the adjective contorted to describe something that's twisted or misshapen. If your face is contorted with frustration as you build a model sailboat, you’re furrowing your brows and wrinkling your nose — and should probably find a new hobby. Things can be physically contorted, like a twisting mountain trail, or figuratively contorted, like a biased magazine article. A story can get contorted as well. The more times you tell people the tale of your bike crash, the more it changes, until in the end you're telling a pretty contorted version in which the bike is a motorcycle and the lamp post is a pack of rabid dogs.
Vocabulary lists containing contorted
The Giver
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Twists and Turns: Tor
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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.
Yu Ji’s cement sculptures take the shape of contorted human bodies—not uncomfortable but limberly twisted and folded—that are missing limbs; their contrasting materials and postures at once suggest permanence and evanescence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Acquiring the semiautonomous Danish territory would further elevate his claims to greatness and the status of legend in his own contorted reality.
From Salon • Jan. 13, 2026
Natalie said at times Beth would spend hours lying with her body "contorted" into specific positions that enabled her to bear the agony.
From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025
“She bounded around with so many positions and backtracked and so desperately contorted ... . She is more consistent now than she was then.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2024
A figure was walking swiftly past a top-floor window, and its face was contorted with anger.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
