definitions

distort

[ dih-stawrt ]
/ dɪˈstɔrt /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR distort ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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.

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RELATED WORDS

pervert, misinterpret, disfigure, warp, twist, belie, misconstrue, deceive, misrepresent, mangle, alter, scam, color, whitewash, sag, bias, bend, fake, decline, angle

Nearby words

distolinguo-occlusal, distomatosis, distomiasis, distomolar, distopulpal, distort, distorted, distortedly, distortion, distortion aberration, distoversion

Origin of distort

1580–90; < Latin distortus (past participle of distorquēre to distort), equivalent to dis- dis-1 + tor(qu)- (stem of torquēre to twist) + -tus past participle suffix
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for distort

British Dictionary definitions for distort

distort

/ (dɪˈstɔːt) /

verb (tr)

(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
Derived Forms

Word Origin for distort

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

Word Origin and History for distort

distort

v.

1580s, from Latin distortus, past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort," from dis- "completely" + torquere "to twist" (see thwart). Related: Distorted; distorting.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper