distortion

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Twisting out of shape

Nouns

1. distortion, contortion; twist, torque, torsion; crookedness, obliquity; grimace, pout; asymmetry, anamorphosis.

2. disability, crippling, debility, handicap, defect; deformity, malformation, mutation, mutilation, disfigurement, abnormality, congenital or birth defect; birthmark, nevus; blindness, color blindness, daltonism; dwarfism, cretinism, achondroplasia; acromegaly, gigantism; albinism; amputation; anencephaly; talipes, clubfoot, clawfoot, hammertoe, pigeon toes, clawhand; bowleg, knock-knee, lameness; bucktooth, gap-tooth, malocclusion, cleft palate, deviated septum, harelip; heart defect; cauliflower ear; crossed eyes, goggle-eyes, bug-eyes, strabismus, diplopia, double vision; Down's syndrome, mongolism; elephant man's disease, neurofibromatosis, humpback, kyphosis; curvature of the spine, scoliosis, lordosis, swayback, kyphosis, spina bifida; cerebral palsy; [central or conductive] hearing loss. See ugliness.

3. contortionist; freak [of nature], monster, monstrosity; elephant man.

4. perversion, misinterpretation, misconstruction; misrepresentation, falsehood, exaggeration.

Verbs

1. distort, contort, twist, warp, crook, wrest, writhe, deform, misshape, mutilate, disfigure, deface, gnarl, knot; make a face, pout, grimace. Slang, mug.

2. pervert, misinterpret, misconstrue; misquote, misrepresent, twist, garble; color, bias, slant, put a false spin on, put words in one's mouth.

Adjectives — distorted, contorted, out of shape, irregular, unsymmetrical, awry, wry, askew, crooked, cockeyed; asymmetrical; not true, not straight; on one side, one-sided, deformed, misshapen, misproportioned, ill-proportioned, ill-made; monstrous, grotesque, gnarled, hump- or hunchbacked; bandy[legged], bowlegged; knock-kneed; taliped, splay-footed, clubfooted; cross-eyed, goggle-eyed, bug-eyed, round-shouldered; snub-nosed; stumpy, gaunt, thin, etc.; bloated. Slang, cockeyed.

Adverbs — distortedly, crookedly, etc.

Quotations — Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please (Mark Twain).

Antonyms, see symmetry, interpretation, representation.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Contortion]

Syn. twist, malformation, deformity; see contortion 1 , 2 .

2. [Misrepresentation]

Syn. perversion, falsification, misuse; see lie 1 , parody .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

misrepresentation, lie, misinterpretation, alteration, stretch, embellishment, falsification, exaggeration, perversion, *BS, fabrication, embroidery.

ANT.: truth, accuracy