distort

[dih-stawrt]

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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.

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 formsdis·tort·er, noundis·tor·tive, adjectivenon·dis·tort·ing, adjectivenon·dis·tort·ing·ly, adverbnon·dis·tor·tive, adjectiveo·ver·dis·tort, verb (used with object)un·dis·tort·ing, adjective

Synonyms for distort

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR distort ON THESAURUS.COM

2. pervert, misconstrue, twist, falsify, misstate. See misrepresent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for distorting

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

Examples from the Web for distorting

Contemporary Examples of distorting

But Colette sees a more serious problem with forgery, beyond the distorting effect forgery has on the art market.
Why eBay Is an Art Forger’s Paradise
Lizzie Crocker
August 19, 2014
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), funded by the Koch Brothers, has multiple Pinocchios for its ads, mainly for distorting Obamacare.
How Harry Reid Carpet-Bombed the South
Eleanor Clift
May 18, 2014
His recent opus, “Distorting Russia,” will go down in history as one of the most slavish defenses of Putinism.
How the ‘Realists’ Misjudged Ukraine
James Kirchick
March 3, 2014
This film is still, in the end, a biopic and should have been careful of distorting what is already public knowledge.
The Myth of Reality in ‘Lone Survivor’
Benjamin Busch
January 19, 2014
The criticisms often rely on distorting the terms of the agreement.
Head of D.C. Pro-Israel Think Tank Misrepresents Geneva Deal
Ali Gharib
November 27, 2013

Historical Examples of distorting

See that all filling is firm but not packed in to the point of distorting the skin.
Taxidermy
Leon Luther Pray
His eyes looked at me from behind the distorting negative lenses.
...Or Your Money Back
Gordon Randall Garrett
Why suppose that by distorting reality we get it in shape to affirm of reality?
Studies in Logical Theory
John Dewey
They've been distorting the truth, and the truth is to his credit.
The Grain Of Dust
David Graham Phillips
A hell of vapour, distorting sight; a hell of sound, drowning the soul.
The Mystery of Choice
Robert William Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for distorting

distort

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 Formsdistorted, adjectivedistortedly, adverbdistortedness, noundistorter, noundistortive, adjective

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 distorting

distort

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