distort

[dih-stawrt]

verb (used with object)

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

   Arthritis had distorted his fingers.

2. to give a false, perverted, or disproportionate meaning to; misrepresent.

   to distort the facts.

   Synonyms: misstate, falsify, twist, misconstrue, pervert

3. 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

/ dɪˈstɔːt /

verb

1. (often passive) to twist or pull out of shape; make bent or misshapen; contort; deform

2. to alter or misrepresent (facts, motives, etc)

3. electronics to reproduce or amplify (a signal) inaccurately, changing the shape of the waveform

Other Word Forms

• distortedly adverb
• distorted adjective
• distortedness noun
• distorter noun
• distortive adjective
• nondistorting adjective
• nondistortingly adverb
• nondistortive adjective
• overdistort verb (used with object)
• undistorting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of distort¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of distort¹

C16: from Latin distortus misshapen, from distorquēre to turn different ways, from _dis- ¹ + torquēre to twist

Synonym Study

See misrepresent.

Example Sentences

A recent United Nations commission of inquiry report found that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, although Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

Read more on BBC

“It’s degrading and traumatizing to experience your own identity being distorted without your consent,” Smith said, now age 43.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

By studying how the light was distorted, researchers could calculate how much matter was packed inside the unseen object.

Read more on Science Daily

Israel has categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

Read more on BBC

The crucial insight of today’s Roberts court might be put this way: Imperious judicial decisions distort and infantilize the political sphere.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• alter 
• belie 
• deceive 
• disfigure 
• mangle 
• misconstrue 
• misinterpret 
• misrepresent 
• pervert 
• twist 
• warp