Contort

//kənˈtɔː(ɹ)t// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To twist in a violent manner. transitive

    "features contorted with fury"

  2. 2
    twist and press out of shape wordnet
  3. 3
    To twist into or as if into a strained shape or expression. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
deformtwistbendbucklecircumgyratecorkscrew

Antonyms

All antonyms
form

Example

More examples

"You won't believe how he can contort the meaning of 'truth'."

Etymology

Equivalent to con- + -tort; from Middle English, borrowed from Latin contortus, past participle of contorqueō, from com- + torqueō (“twist, turn”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.