distort
[dih-stawrt]
- 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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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for distort on Thesaurus.com2. pervert, misconstrue, twist, falsify, misstate. See misrepresent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for distorting
Contemporary Examples
But Colette sees a more serious problem with forgery, beyond the distorting effect forgery has on the art market.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), funded by the Koch Brothers, has multiple Pinocchios for its ads, mainly for distorting Obamacare.
His recent opus, “Distorting Russia,” will go down in history as one of the most slavish defenses of Putinism.
This film is still, in the end, a biopic and should have been careful of distorting what is already public knowledge.
The criticisms often rely on distorting the terms of the agreement.
Historical Examples
See that all filling is firm but not packed in to the point of distorting the skin.
TaxidermyLeon Luther Pray
His eyes looked at me from behind the distorting negative lenses.
...Or Your Money BackGordon Randall Garrett
Why suppose that by distorting reality we get it in shape to affirm of reality?
Studies in Logical TheoryJohn Dewey
They've been distorting the truth, and the truth is to his credit.
The Grain Of DustDavid Graham Phillips
A hell of vapour, distorting sight; a hell of sound, drowning the soul.
The Mystery of ChoiceRobert William Chambers
distort
- (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
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for distorting
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper