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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.
  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.
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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
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

2. 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 distortive

Historical Examples

  • But, in the distortive movement, the mass will also gain energy in other forms.

    The Energy System of Matter

    James Weir

British Dictionary definitions for distortive

distort

verb (tr)
  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
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Derived Formsdistorted, adjectivedistortedly, adverbdistortedness, noundistorter, noundistortive, adjective

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for distortive

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