distort

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin distortum, past participle of distorqueō (“to twist, torture, distort”).

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɔɹt/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɔːt/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t

Verb

distort (third-person singular simple present distorts, present participle distorting, simple past and past participle distorted)

(transitive) To bring something out of shape, to misshape.
- 1902, Hilaire Belloc, The Path to Rome:
  This she did with the utmost politeness, though cold by race, and through her politeness ran a sense of what the Teutons call Duty, which would once have repelled me; but I have wandered over a great part of the world and I know it now to be a distorted kind of virtue.
(intransitive, ergative) To become misshapen.
(transitive) To give a false or misleading account of
In their articles, journalists sometimes distort the truth.

Synonyms

(to bring something out of shape): deform

Derived terms

Related terms

distorted (adjective)
distortion

Translations

to bring something out of shape

Arabic: يشوّه (yoshawweh)
Bulgarian: изкривявам (bg) (izkrivjavam), деформирам (bg) (deformiram)
Catalan: deformar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 歪曲 (zh) (wāiqū)
Danish: forvrænge
Dutch: vervormen (nl)
Esperanto: tordi, distordi
Finnish: vääristää (fi), vääntää (fi)
French: déformer (fr), distordre (fr)
Galician: deformar (gl), distorsionar, distorcer
German: verzerren (de)
Greek: παραμορφώνω (el) (paramorfóno), διαστρεβλώνω (el) (diastrevlóno), διαστρέφω (el) (diastréfo)
Hungarian: torzít (hu), eltorzít (hu)
Irish: cuir as a chuma, athchum, cam, fiar
Italian: deformare (it)
Japanese: 歪める (ja) (ゆがめる, yugameru), 曲げる (ja) (まげる, mageru)
Khmer: ធ្វើអោយខុសពីភាពដើម (thvəəʼaoykhohpiiphiəpdaəm)
Latin: distorqueō
Maori: kōrori, kōrorirori, whakariroi, whakarori, whakahawe, whakaparori, whakariroi
Norwegian: forvrenge, fordreie
Old English: tōwrīþan, atolian, unwlitigian, āwemman
Polish: zniekształcać (pl) impf (of objects), zniekształcić (pl) pf (of objects), przesterowywać impf (of sounds), przesterować pf (of sounds)
Portuguese: distorcer (pt), deformar (pt)
Russian: искажа́ть (ru) impf (iskažátʹ), искази́ть (ru) pf (iskazítʹ); искривля́ть (ru) impf (iskrivljátʹ), искриви́ть (ru) pf (iskrivítʹ); изгиба́ть (ru) impf (izgibátʹ), изогну́ть (ru) pf (izognútʹ)
Spanish: deformar (es), distorsionar (es)
Swedish: förvränga (sv)
Walloon: kitoide (wa)

to become misshapen

Finnish: vääristyä (fi), vääntyä (fi)
Galician: deformar (gl)
Hungarian: torzul (hu), eltorzul (hu)
Maori: pakoki
Spanish: deformar (es)

to give false account of

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Azerbaijani: təhrif etmək
Bulgarian: изопачавам (bg) (izopačavam)
Catalan: tergiversar (ca), distorsionar (ca)
Danish: forvrænge
Dutch: verdraaien (nl), vervalsen (nl)
Esperanto: misprezenti
Finnish: vääristää (fi), vääristellä (fi)
French: déformer (fr)
Galician: terxiversar (gl), distorsionar, distorcer, desvirtuar (gl)
German: verzerren (de)
Greek: διαστρεβλώνω (el) (diastrevlóno)
Hungarian: torzít (hu), csúsztat (hu), eltorzít (hu), elferdít (hu), meghamisít (hu)
Irish: cuir as a ríocht, cuir cor i, cuir casadh i
Italian: distorcere (it)
Japanese: 歪める (ja) (ゆがめる, yugameru)
Khmer: បង្ខូចទ្រង់ទ្រាយ (bɑɑngkhouctrŭəngtriəy)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Malayalam: വളച്ചൊടിക്കുക (vaḷaccoṭikkuka)
Maori: whakariro, aweke
Norwegian: forvrenge
Polish: wypaczać (pl)
Portuguese: distorcer (pt)
Russian: искажа́ть (ru) impf (iskažátʹ), искази́ть (ru) pf (iskazítʹ); извраща́ть (ru) impf (izvraščátʹ), изврати́ть (ru) pf (izvratítʹ)
Spanish: tergiversar (es), distorsionar (es), desvirtuar (es)
Swedish: förvränga (sv), vränga (sv)
Ukrainian: спотворювати impf (spotvorjuvaty), спотворити pf (spotvoryty), викривляти impf (vykryvljaty), викривити pf (vykryvyty)

Adjective

distort (comparative more distort, superlative most distort)

(obsolete) Distorted; misshapen.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 36:
  Her face was ugly and her mouth distort.