EN

Synonyms for distort

26 synonyms
9 antonyms
4 meanings

verb

Most common

deform contort wring wrest warp falsify tinge twist

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Deform

deform, contort, wring, wrest, injure, wrench, screw, deface, writhe

2. Warp

warp, falsify, misrepresent, garble, pervert, torture, sophisticate, misstate, detort dated

3. Color

color US, colour UK, tinge

4. Twist

Other

skew, misinterpret, strain

Antonyms

decorate, depict, represent

All antonyms of distort →

Definitions

v. 1
To bring something out of shape, to misshape.
v. 2
To become misshapen.
v. 3
To give a false or misleading account of; pervert.
In their articles, journalists sometimes distort the truth.

Related words

Word family: distorted distortion

Forms

Past participle: distorted
e.g. distorted → deformed, contorted, wringed, wrested…

Example sentences

injure You have to be careful so as not to injure yourself.
wring Wring those clothes well before you hang them up.
contort You won't believe how he can contort the meaning of 'truth'.
warp The shopkeeper couldn't tell warp from weft.
falsify I will falsify a permit so that I can go camping there this weekend.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
distort		steady
injure		falling
wring		rising
deform		steady
contort		rising
warp		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: warp¹, skew¹
5 letters: color², screw¹, twist¹, twine¹, wring¹, tinge¹, wrest¹
6 letters: colour², strain¹, wrench¹, injure², deform², deface², writhe¹, garble², detort
7 letters: torture², pervert², falsify³, contort²
8 letters: misstate²
12 letters: misrepresent⁴, misinterpret⁴, sophisticate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (color² = 2 syllables).