contorting

present participle of contort
as in distorting
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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contorting Yan jumped up — way up — into the air, contorting his legs into somewhat of a split. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 Devotees of his fashions will likely disagree, seeing his pencil strokes bring to life elegant dresses and coats with flame-like lapels, or depict a crane and a contorting human with the same energetic strokes. — Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 21 July 2026 His adjustments to poor throws at Auburn often presented the illusion that Coleman was levitating before contorting to make a spectacular play. — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 15 July 2026 Videos and photos circulating on social media showed steel columns on the building’s higher floors buckling and contorting on Tuesday. — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 8 July 2026 The way Adult Swim’s slate of low-fi, off-kilter programming managed to interrupt the monotony of 2000s cable TV, Friedland’s show follows a familiar format while subtly contorting it. — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 29 June 2026 But the same dystopian phenomenon is contorting the whole labor market. — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 2 June 2026 For more serious cavers who are at least 16 years old, this summer-only, four-hour tour requires crawling, climbing, and contorting. — Robert Annis, Midwest Living, 14 May 2026 Despite the complex, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, hundreds of mouths could be seen contorting word-for-word with Springsteen’s, giving the show an intimate, local bar atmosphere. — Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contorting
Verb
  • But the current state of geopolitics appears to be distorting what being open means.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 19 Aug. 2026
  • China’s aircraft engineers have warned that artificial intelligence could feed false data into military intelligence, potentially distorting the design and operation of advanced weapons.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • For instance, InSAR finds where something is changing, laser scanning shows how a structure is deforming, and GPR investigates what may be happening underneath it.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
  • How are prices set, and how do those prices avoid reproducing the procedural bias already deforming American medicine?
    — Sachin H. Jain, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Verb
  • The accounts of her cruelty were gruesome — publicly torturing women, cutting off their fingers, murdering hundreds of them.
    — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Alsheikh was involved in torturing political dissidents to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to the Justice Department.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The screwworm gets its name from the maggots’ habit of burrowing — or screwing — into a wound, according to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
    — Fabiola Sánchez, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
  • There’s a storyline in season two about AI being employed at the hospital, then screwing everything up when the system goes down.
    — Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 11 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Her pass found Nina Nijstad, who fired off a curling shot past Cosette Morché to put the visitors up 1-0.
    — Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The anticipation builds until the silence is pierced by the curling cry of the ancient instrument.
    — Ben Corn, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Contorting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contorting. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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