Distort

How to spell distort

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce distort

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does distort mean?

1. verbTo pull or twist something out of its normal shape, sound, or appearance.
2. verbTo give a misleading or twisted account of facts, events, or someone's words.

Distort in a sentence

• The cheap speakers distort the bass at high volume.

• The tabloid chose to distort the minister's comments.

• Heat from the oven can distort a thin plastic tray.

• Selective editing can distort what really happened in the meeting.

Where does distort come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin distorquere, meaning 'to twist apart' or 'to twist out of shape', formed from the prefix dis- ('apart, in different directions') and the verb torquere ('to twist or wring'). The past participle distortus gave English the verb in the early 1500s, when it first described literally bending or warping something physical out of its proper form. From that bodily sense it soon stretched to mean twisting the truth, that is, misrepresenting facts or accounts. The same torquere root quietly twists its way through a whole family of English words, including torture, torment, torque, and contort, all of which carry the idea of forced twisting. Remembering that buried tort, 'to twist', helps fix the single t in the middle and explains the meaning at the same time.

How the word is built

• dis- (apart, away)
• tort (to twist, from Latin torquere)