[syn: deform, distort, strain]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Distort \Dis*tort"\, a. [L. distortus, p. p. of distorquere to
twist, distort; dis- + torquere to twist. See Torsion.]
Distorted; misshapen. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Her face was ugly and her mouth distort. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
Whose face was distorted with pain. --Thackeray.
[1913 Webster]
2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to
twist aside mentally or morally.
[1913 Webster]
Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and
distort the understandings of men. --Tillotson.
[1913 Webster]
3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort
passages of Scripture, or their meaning.
Syn: To twist; wrest; deform; pervert.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
distort
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
164 Moby Thesaurus words for "distort":
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