distort
verb
dis·tort di-ˈstȯrt 
distorted; distorting; distorts
transitive verb
1
: to twist (see twist entry 1 sense 3b) out of the true meaning or proportion : to alter to give a false or unnatural picture or account
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
The singer's voice was electronically distorted.
3
: pervert
distort justice
intransitive verb
: to become distorted
Heat caused the wax figures to distort.
also : to cause a twisting from the true, natural, or normal
distorter noun
Synonyms
- bend
- color
- cook
- falsify
- fudge
- garble
- misinterpret
- misrelate
- misrepresent
- misstate
- pervert
- slant
- twist
- warp
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Her face was distorted by pain. The odd camera angle distorted her figure in the photograph. The sound of the guitar was distorted. Heat caused the plastic to distort. She felt he was distorting the facts. The story was distorted by the press. The loss of both her parents at an early age distorted her outlook on life. See More
Recent Examples on the Web Does anyone believe this won’t produce continuous anonymous leaks that will intrude into and distort the November elections and beyond? 
Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 Webb will also show us a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723, where galaxies distort and magnify the light emanating from other objects behind them, a cosmic quirk that allows telescopes to spot very distant and faint galaxies farther out. Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 8 July 2022 Other contributors include lectins, which distort our neutrophils, and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), which produce proinflammatory chemokines like interleukin-17. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022 There are people with totalitarian mind-sets whose first job is to obscure, distort and destroy the truth. Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2022 The bill’s $369 billion in climate spending and regulation will distort energy markets and raise costs for business and consumers. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022 The policy helped distort China's population, leading to a fast-aging population with too many men. Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 12 July 2022 The Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro produces a big sound, but it’s a refined sound that has an impressive bass that doesn’t distort. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 4 June 2022 Musk has accused Twitter of misrepresenting the size of its user base to distort its value and cited the issue of fake accounts as a main reason for abandoning his offer to buy the company. Fortune, 6 Aug. 2022 See More
Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 Webb will also show us a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723, where galaxies distort and magnify the light emanating from other objects behind them, a cosmic quirk that allows telescopes to spot very distant and faint galaxies farther out. Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 8 July 2022 Other contributors include lectins, which distort our neutrophils, and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), which produce proinflammatory chemokines like interleukin-17. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022 There are people with totalitarian mind-sets whose first job is to obscure, distort and destroy the truth. Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2022 The bill’s $369 billion in climate spending and regulation will distort energy markets and raise costs for business and consumers. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022 The policy helped distort China's population, leading to a fast-aging population with too many men. Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 12 July 2022 The Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro produces a big sound, but it’s a refined sound that has an impressive bass that doesn’t distort. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 4 June 2022 Musk has accused Twitter of misrepresenting the size of its user base to distort its value and cited the issue of fake accounts as a main reason for abandoning his offer to buy the company. Fortune, 6 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Latin distortus, past participle of distorquēre, from dis- + torquēre to twist — more at torture entry 1
First Known Use
1567, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
distort
verb
dis·tort di-ˈstȯrt
distorted; distorting
1
: to twist out of shape
2
: to change so as to make untrue or inaccurate
Reports distorted the facts.
distort
verb
1
as in to misrepresent
to change so much as to create a wrong impression or alter the meaning of the coach's message was so distorted after passing through so many people that it was unintelligible Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- misrepresent
- misstate
- falsify
- complicate
- misinterpret
- pervert
- twist
- obscure
- warp
- censor
- garble
- slant
- color
- confuse
- cook
- bend
- fudge
- misrelate
- mistake
- mask
- disguise
- dissemble
- mistranslate
- camouflage
- misspeak
- whitewash
- belie
- lie
- bowdlerize
- mystify
- veil
- confound
- misdescribe
- prevaricate
- equivocate
- fib
- palter
- gloss (over)
- mix (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- interpret
- explain
- illustrate
- clarify
- illuminate
- clear (up)
- decipher
- spell out
2
as in to deform
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition if you keep distorting your face like that, someday it's going to freeze in that position Synonyms & Similar Words
- deform
- contort
- screw
- misshape
- warp
- curl
- torture
- disfigure
- deface
- squinch
- coil
- spiral
- loop
- wind
- wring
- wrench
- twine
- wrest
- wreathe
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- straighten
- unbend
- uncurl
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of distort are contort, deform, and warp. While all these words mean "to mar or spoil by or as if by twisting," distort and contort both imply a wrenching from the natural or normal, but contort suggests a more involved twisting and a more grotesque and painful result.
the odd camera angle distorts the figure
disease had contorted her body
Although the words deform and distort have much in common, deform may imply a change of shape through stress, injury, or accident of growth.
a face deformed by hatred
In some situations, the words warp and distort are roughly equivalent. However, warp indicates an uneven shrinking that bends or twists out of a flat plane.
warped floorboards