as in deformation
the twisting of something out of its natural or normal shape or condition
the comedian is renowned for his seemingly endless variety of facial contortions
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Recent Examples of contortion
And this is not to shame the act of contortion.
—
Caroline Rothstein, InStyle, 30 Dec. 2025
The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki.
—ABC News, 31 Oct. 2025
The oil made her body slippery, allowing rescuers to pull her out of the passageway by working in reverse and undoing all the contortions that trapped her.
—Mark Gray, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
The incidents highlight the contortions of the Taliban four years after seizing power of Afghanistan.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
DiCaprio actually is quite funny early on in the film, but his performance loses steam in the back half, as his broad gestures and facial contortions can’t quite match the grim subtlety of Scorsese’s direction of the later scenes.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2025
Caroline Rothstein, InStyle, 30 Dec. 2025
The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki.
—ABC News, 31 Oct. 2025
The oil made her body slippery, allowing rescuers to pull her out of the passageway by working in reverse and undoing all the contortions that trapped her.
—Mark Gray, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
The incidents highlight the contortions of the Taliban four years after seizing power of Afghanistan.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
DiCaprio actually is quite funny early on in the film, but his performance loses steam in the back half, as his broad gestures and facial contortions can’t quite match the grim subtlety of Scorsese’s direction of the later scenes.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contortion
Noun
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Rain that gets through cracks in the pavement softens the soil beneath, causing more deformation under traffic loading and leading to more cracking, according to Jonathan Stewart, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.—
Alex Wigglesworth,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
-
This makes the material harder and more resistant to deformation.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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That's when the voice distortion comes into play — but due to a history of viewers trying to cheat the system, The Masked Singer team does even more to deceive the audience.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
7 Jan. 2026
-
However, practical deployment has been prevented by sensitivity to ambient light, waveform distortion in LEDs, according to a press release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The genetic disorder is a connective tissue disease that leads to fragile bones and related complications like short stature, bone deformities, and fractures, per Mayo Clinic.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Dec. 2025
-
Roots become dehydrated, and water stress causes stunting, deformities, and dieback.—
Barbara Gillette,
The Spruce,
29 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contortion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contortion. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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