distort
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.
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.
Origin of distort
1synonym study For distort
Other words for distort
Other words from distort
- dis·tort·er, noun
- dis·tor·tive, adjective
- non·dis·tort·ing, adjective
- non·dis·tort·ing·ly, adverb
- non·dis·tor·tive, adjective
- o·ver·dis·tort, verb (used with object)
- un·dis·tort·ing, adjective
Words Nearby distort
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use distort in a sentence
The decisions we make about where to live are distorted not just by politics that play down climate risks, but also by expensive subsidies and incentives aimed at defying nature.
Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration | by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Meridith Kohut | September 15, 2020 | ProPublicaEarlier studies about digital contact tracing have been widely distorted.
Coronavirus tracing apps can save lives even with low adoption rates | Patrick O'Neill | September 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewBecause these new constellations are being deployed in lower orbits, they’re much brighter, leaving behind long bright streaks on the image and sometimes distorting other parts of the data.
Satellite mega-constellations risk ruining astronomy forever | Neel Patel | September 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThey take a scientific pose to gain your confidence and then distort the facts to their own purposes.
How Pseudoscientists Get Away With It - Facts So Romantic | Stuart Firestein | August 28, 2020 | NautilusThat concept of distorting perception was important, Ginzel said.
A Closer Look at the Public Art at Chicago Police Stations | by Logan Jaffe | August 21, 2020 | ProPublica
And would-be collectors like Henry Stephenson continue to distort the cultural record in their hunt for hidden treasures.
Saying a word in a different tone can distort or utterly mangle a line.
Hollywood would never grossly distort the Civil War or D-Day.
‘300’ Is a Misleading, Muscle-Bound Travesty of Ancient History | James Romm | March 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOr, they could distort the contents of the bill and attack anyone who disagreed with them as a legal Luddite and hysteric.
Are Opponents of Arizona's Anti-Gay Law Eager to Deceive? | Kirsten Powers | March 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI have witnessed at first hand how Irving likes to distort things.
The temptation to distort facts to make a good story is strong; I have seen it in my connection with the 'Courier.'
A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith NicholsonShakspere's contemporaries don't imitate Nature, they distort it, give Passion, and no Reason.
A Letter on Shakspere's Authorship of The Two Noble Kinsmen | William SpaldingWherefore then should grief sadden and distort such blythe, such jocund, features as mine?
Clarissa, Volume 6 (of 9) | Samuel RichardsonWhat he wants is not an enlightened and truthful agent, but a man who will distort the truth to suit his prejudices.
Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino v.1/3, 1831-1835 | Dorothy Duchesse de DinoSuch a wire must be a little slack, or, as illustrated above, it will distort the framework.
The Aeroplane Speaks | H. Barber
British Dictionary definitions for distort
/ (dɪˈstɔːt) /
(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
Origin of distort
1Derived forms of distort
- distorted, adjective
- distortedly, adverb
- distortedness, noun
- distorter, noun
- distortive, adjective
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
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