Adjacent Words

Distort definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISTORT, v.t. [L., to twist.]
1. To twist out of natural or regular shape; as, to distort the neck, the limbs or the body; to distort the features.
2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction.
Wrath and malice, envy and revenge distort the understanding.
3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of scripture, or their meaning.
DISTORT, a. Distorted.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story [syn: falsify, distort, garble, warp]
2: form into a spiral shape; "The cord is all twisted" [syn: twist, twine, distort] [ant: untwist]
3: twist and press out of shape [syn: contort, deform, distort, wring]
4: affect as in thought or feeling; "My personal feelings color my judgment in this case"; "The sadness tinged his life" [syn: tinge, color, colour, distort]
5: alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was deformed by leprosy" [syn: deform, distort, strain]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Latin distortus, past participle of distorqu?re, from dis- + torqu?re to twist — more at torture Date: 1567 transitive verb 1. to twist out of the true meaning or proportion <distorted the facts> 2. to twist out of a natural, normal, or original shape or condition <a face distorted by pain>; also to cause to be perceived unnaturally <the new lights distorted colors> 3. pervert <distort justice> intransitive verb to become distorted; also to cause a twisting from the true, natural, or normal Synonyms: see deform • distorter noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a put out of shape; make crooked or unshapely. b distort the appearance of, esp. by curved mirrors etc. 2 misrepresent (motives, facts, statements, etc.). Derivatives: distortedly adv. distortedness n. Etymology: L distorquere distort- (as DIS-, torquere twist)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distort Dis*tort", a. [L. distortus, p. p. of distorquere to twist, distort; dis- + torquere to twist. See Torsion.] Distorted; misshapen. [Obs.] Her face was ugly and her mouth distort. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distort Dis*tort", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Distorting.] 1. To twist of natural or regular shape; to twist aside physically; as, to distort the limbs, or the body. Whose face was distorted with pain. --Thackeray. 2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to twist aside mentally or morally. Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and distort the understandings of men. --Tillotson. 3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of Scripture, or their meaning. Syn: To twist; wrest; deform; pervert.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(distorts, distorting, distorted) 1. If you distort a statement, fact, or idea, you report or represent it in an untrue way. The media distorts reality; categorises people as all good or all bad... VERB: V n • distorted These figures give a distorted view of the significance for the local economy. ADJ 2. If something you can see or hear is distorted or distorts, its appearance or sound is changed so that it seems unclear. A painter may exaggerate or distort shapes and forms... This caused the sound to distort. VERB: V n, V • distorted Sound was becoming more and more distorted through the use of hearing aids. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Twist, deform, wrest. 2. Pervert, misrepresent, falsify, wrest, strain the sense of.

Moby Thesaurus

adulterate, alloy, alter, argue insincerely, belie, bend, bias, blemish, blur, buckle, burlesque, camouflage, canker, caricature, change, cheapen, check, cicatrize, coarsen, color, confound, confuse, contaminate, contort, corrupt, crack, craze, crook, crumple, curve, debase, debauch, deface, defile, deflect, deflower, deform, degenerate, degrade, denature, deprave, desecrate, despoil, devalue, deviate, diffract, diffuse, disfigure, disguise, disorder, disperse, diverge, divert, dogleg, dress up, embellish, embroider, exaggerate, fabricate, falsify, flaw, fog up, fudge, garble, get one wrong, get wrong, gild, gloss, gloss over, gnarl, hairpin, infect, influence, jaundice, jumble, kink, knot, mar, mask, mess up, misapply, misapprehend, miscite, miscolor, misconceive, misconstrue, misdeem, misexplain, misexplicate, misexpound, misinterpret, misjudge, misquote, misread, misrender, misreport, misrepresent, misshape, misstate, mistake, misteach, mistranslate, misunderstand, misuse, muddle, obfuscate, obscure, overdraw, overstate, paralogize, parody, pervert, poison, pollute, prejudice, prejudice against, prejudice the issue, prepossess, prostitute, pull, rationalize, ravage, ravish, reason ill, refract, scab, scar, scarify, scatter, screw, skew, slant, split, spring, squeeze, strain, strain the sense, sway, taint, tamper with, titivate, torture, travesty, trick out, turn, turn awry, twist, twist the words, ulcerate, understate, unform, unshape, varnish, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, whitewash, wind, wrench, wrest, wring, writhe, zigzag