Contortion

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of contorting, twisting or deforming something, especially oneself. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the act of twisting or deforming the shape of something (e.g., yourself) wordnet
  3. 3
    A form of acrobatic display which involves the dramatic bending and flexing of the human body. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    a tortuous and twisted shape or position wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
tortuosityanamorphismanamorphosisasymmetrybucklecrookedness

Example

More examples

"There was one thing in the case which had made the deepest impression both upon the servants and the police. This was the contortion of the Colonel's face. It had set, according to their account, into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror which a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than one person fainted at the mere sight of him, so terrible was the effect."

Etymology

From Middle French contortion.

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