twisted

[twis-tid]

adjective

1. interwoven or combined by winding together, as strands or threads; formed in this way.

   It was Roebling who invented the twisted wire cable used in bridge supports.

2. altered in shape by turning the ends in opposite directions, forming a spiral.

   To remove an object from inside the lower eyelid, wet the end of a twisted piece of tissue and touch it to the object.

3. turned sharply or wrenched out of place; injured in this way.

   I hadn't touched a skateboard in almost a year because of a twisted ankle.

4. (of a person’s features) distorted or contorted by tensing or contracting the facial muscles.

   He made a twisted face as he bent down to look at the disgusting mess.

5. (of words) having the meaning distorted or perverted.

   It is a sad day when outright lies and twisted words triumph over truth.

6. mentally or emotionally distorted; warped.

   It's perverse logic, but it explains how someone with a twisted mind can have a clear conscience.

7. tortuously bent out of shape.

   The twisted steel wreckage of the sunken ship can be seen in this sonar image.

8. taking a winding, curving, or bending course.

   Twisted vines curl, bend, and overlap while growing side by side.

   It's by a long and twisted path that I've been led to this moment.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of twist.

Other Word Forms

• twistedly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of twisted¹

twist ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Pictures showed shattered windows, cracks from shrapnel, a gaping hole in the mud-brick wall and twisted metal from hospital beds covering the floor.

Read more on BBC

He knows the inclusion is provocative but says that’s the point: to show how words can be twisted or emptied of meaning, including in debates over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One of the volunteers then twisted his own leg during the rescue operation.

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Daddis believes that “a twisted relation with faith and fear, if left unbroken, can only preordain the nation to a militarized way of life bounded by the grimness of war.”

Read more on Salon

Hill’s knee was badly twisted and an air cast was placed over his leg.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• coiled www.thesaurus.com
• complicated 
• contorted 
• convoluted 
• crooked 
• curled www.thesaurus.com
• gnarled 
• intricate 
• tangled 
• tortuous 
• wry