as in distorted
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as in deformed
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
the acrobat is able to contort his body so that it almost looks like a pretzel
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Recent Examples of contorted
Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 18 Dec. 2025
Then there are a couple of realistic sculptures by Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg that feature a woman seated on a basic office chair in contorted positions that seem to emphasize her feminine parts.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
Three-inch gashes had been ripped from both corners of her mouth nearly to the ears, forming a contorted, twisted smile.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2025
Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026
For the entire 15-minute show, they’ve been contorted into pieces of furniture Lawson fabricated, pieces befitting something between an asylum and BDSM dungeon, and reminiscent of Allen Jones’s 1960s Pop sculpture series, which depicts fiberglass women in fetishware as home objects.
—Anna Peele, Vanity Fair, 6 Feb. 2026
In 2025, there was the Owl Arm Trend, in which Gen Z TikTokers contorted their bodies (and stretched their T-shirts) to mimic the shape of a perching owl, clinging to their friend’s arm.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Their necks contorted slightly and smiles spread across their faces as the high-definition videos started and their journeys commenced.
—Haven Daley, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Mikomi sees images generated by Grok of her wearing specific fetish outfits, or her body contorted or placed in strange contexts.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
And children’s faces are contorted with terror.
—Leonard Pitts Jr, Miami Herald, 1 Jan. 2026
Vonn walked with a limp, which contorted her body in a way that put stress on other areas, like her hips and ribs.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
One oral tradition about Lake Nyos describes how people long ago attempted to cross the dry lake bed between the high, contorted rock formations of the maar’s volcanic rim.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Last week, Boston Dynamics explained Atlas’s ground recovery, revealing why the humanoid rises with contorted movements rather than standing like a human.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 18 Dec. 2025
Then there are a couple of realistic sculptures by Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg that feature a woman seated on a basic office chair in contorted positions that seem to emphasize her feminine parts.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
Three-inch gashes had been ripped from both corners of her mouth nearly to the ears, forming a contorted, twisted smile.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
Cross-country skiing is known for its attrition, an event that leaves its competitors foam-mouthed and slack-jawed; athletes of iron reduced to trembling and contorted shapes on the floor.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026
For the entire 15-minute show, they’ve been contorted into pieces of furniture Lawson fabricated, pieces befitting something between an asylum and BDSM dungeon, and reminiscent of Allen Jones’s 1960s Pop sculpture series, which depicts fiberglass women in fetishware as home objects.
—Anna Peele, Vanity Fair, 6 Feb. 2026
In 2025, there was the Owl Arm Trend, in which Gen Z TikTokers contorted their bodies (and stretched their T-shirts) to mimic the shape of a perching owl, clinging to their friend’s arm.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Their necks contorted slightly and smiles spread across their faces as the high-definition videos started and their journeys commenced.
—Haven Daley, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Mikomi sees images generated by Grok of her wearing specific fetish outfits, or her body contorted or placed in strange contexts.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
And children’s faces are contorted with terror.
—Leonard Pitts Jr, Miami Herald, 1 Jan. 2026
Vonn walked with a limp, which contorted her body in a way that put stress on other areas, like her hips and ribs.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
One oral tradition about Lake Nyos describes how people long ago attempted to cross the dry lake bed between the high, contorted rock formations of the maar’s volcanic rim.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contorted
Adjective
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The goal is added muscular demand without distorted movement.—
Dana Santas,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
-
The team is running detailed simulations to understand how the system performs when signals are weak or distorted.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The mountains themselves are too deformed to hold hydrocarbons.—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
6 Mar. 2026
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Hadi tells an engaging story, brings complex and surprising characters to life, lends a locale an aesthetic iconography, and renders personal identity inextricable from the forces of history that shaped or deformed it.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Unlike traditional steel, which has a crystalline atomic structure, amorphous steel has a disordered atomic arrangement.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
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But intrinsically disordered proteins, a category that includes these nucleoporins, don’t have a single structure.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Moments after Will Osula curled in the stunning winner for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Wednesday night, an old post on social media started to find its way onto the timelines of millions.—
Chris McKenna,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
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Calum Ritchie carried the puck into the Sharks’ zone, curled, and found a trailing Tony DeAngelo, who skated to his right and put a wrist shot on net that Askarov couldn’t handle with his glove as the Islanders took a 1-0 lead.—
Curtis Pashelka,
Mercury News,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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His fourth attempt was foiled when he was arrested at the airport and detained and tortured for several months.—
Don Riddell,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
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The former soldier also said Haitian police mentally and physically tortured the Colombian suspects after they were taken into custody.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contorted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contorted. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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