distortedadj.
1. Twisted out of shape; drawn awry; made crooked; represented with parts out of proportion, like the shadows falling obliquely on a surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adjective] > of or relating to distortion > distorted
wrongwende?c1225
writhenc1475
thrawnc1494
tort1513
encrampised1523
wry1552
thraw?1553
contort1570
wried1576
writhed1578
turned1585
distort1588
tortured1603
wrested1609
contorted1622
distorted1635
twisted1830
wreathed1844
gnarled1851
squinched1899
contortioned1922
pretzelled1938
1635 W. Habington Castara (ed. 2) iii. 204 He who's lifted up by vice Hath a neighb'ring precipice Dazeling his distorted eye.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xviii. 480 Wide with distorted Legs, oblique he goes.
1833 H. Coleridge Biographia Borealis p. viii To represent the opinions..not in the distorted perspective of their adversaries.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ii. 7 He had fixed his eyes upon a distorted fir-tree.
2. figurative. Turned awry; twisted, wrested.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [adjective]
corruptc1386
racked1546
detorted?1550
wrested1551
writhen1551
writhed1562
forced1583
tortured1603
strained1609
distorted1641
violented1641
crook1647
extorted1652
refracted1655
madly wrested1656
wry1663
corrupted1699
non-natural1844
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. Pref. 3 The grosse distorted apprehension of decay'd mankinde.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 448 You see how distorted..his Exposition is to the Text.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 460 The fifth depends upon a distorted authority, and violent assumption.
Derivatives
diˈstortedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adverb] > distortedly
wryly1580
distortedlya1688
contortedly1856
twistedly1910
a1688 R. Cudworth Treat. Eternal & Immutable Morality (1731) iv. iv. 261 To what Purpose should they so violently and distortedly pervert the natural Order?
1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 29 1004 A glass that..would shew objects distortedly as well as dimly.
diˈstortedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [noun] > action or fact of putting or being out of shape > distortion
beshrewinga1425
distortion1581
wryness1591
contortion1611
distorture1613
distortedness1684
wringing1706
twisting1725
cross-winding1815
twistification1835
detortion1853
twinge1860
1684 S. E. Answer Remarks upon Dr. H. More 407 There is not the least Incongruity or distortedness in Mr. Mede's way.
1885 L. Oliphant Sympneumata x. 152 The sad distortedness that she inherited in entering this world.
Draft additions 1993
3. Of a waveform or electrical signal: affected by electrical distortion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [adjective] > affected by distortion
distorted1927
1927 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 6 445 It is this distorted wave which acts in the plate circuit, instead of the pure sine wave operating with constant μ.
1935 Wireless World 19 Apr. 397/2 An analysis of the distorted wave..shows that the predominant alien frequency is a second harmonic.
1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 200/1 The distorted output wave form may contain the existing input components altered (1) in relative magnitude..or (2) in relative phase.
1991 IEEE Trans. Power Delivery 7 1161 Under distorted waveform conditions their readings can differ by several percent.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1635