contorted
Americanadjective
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twisted in a violent manner; distorted.
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twisted back on itself; convoluted.
adjective
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twisted out of shape
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(esp of petals and sepals in a bud) twisted so that they overlap on one side
Other Word Forms
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.
Plus, the trigger used to reverse the shape of the contorted molecule in order to release its energy was hydrochloric acid – a highly corrosive substance that must be neutralised after use.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Luciano had a singular style calling a strike, a twisting motion evocative of the football quarterback Lamar Jackson hurling a contorted cross-body pass to a receiver at the sidelines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Her contorted expression is rotted by anguish, as though life’s unbearable burdens have laid waste to their latest victim.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2025
I told myself it didn’t bother me, but really I’d just contorted my life to avoid any reminders.
From Slate • Aug. 31, 2024
He could see it in their faces—in Joe’s contorted grimace, in Don Hume’s wide-open, astonished eyes, eyes that seemed to stare past him into some unfathomable void.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
