warped
Americanadjective
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bent or twisted out of shape, especially from a flat or straight form.
A couple of warped planks made a sort of rickety footbridge from the sidewalk to the door.
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bent or turned from the natural, normal, or true direction or character.
This manipulative behavior comes from the warped relationship she had with her over-controlling mother.
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distorted from the truth, fact, true meaning or interpretation, etc.; biased; false.
Unfortunately you can always find a huge number of websites that will support any warped worldview your anxiety presents you with.
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Aeronautics. (of a wing or other airfoil) curved or bent at the end to promote equilibrium or to secure lateral control.
A warped wing also shows significant improvement in the aircraft’s lift-to-drag ratio.
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Agriculture. (of land) fertilized by flooding with water that deposits alluvial matter.
Water management systems evolved to bring nutrients to fields—as in rice paddies, but also in the water meadows and warped fields of Europe.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of warped
First recorded in 1425–75; warp ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; warp ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Explanation
Use the adjective warped to describe something that's twisted or bent. If you leave a wooden kitchen chair out in the rain, it may eventually become too warped to sit on. Something that's warped is misshapen, like a maple cutting board left to soak in the sink, or a plastic cup that melted and twisted in the hot summer sun. Colloquially, you can also use this word for anything bizarre or distorted, like your older brother's weird, warped sense of humor. The Germanic root of warped means "to turn or bend."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It opens with distorted drums and scratchy, warped synths before transforming, about a minute in, into a full-on cumbia track.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
Max can communicate with him only in a phone call arranged by the nurses—an “exit interview” that appears as a warped reflection of the narrator’s.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Those sources can be wrong, and facts can be lost or warped in the game of telephone.
From Slate • Mar. 28, 2026
The fire truck is on its side, surrounded by debris, wreckage and warped metal.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
The shadows on their faces warped their mouths, making their top lips vanish and their lower lips move strangely.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
