CONTORTING Synonyms: 23 Similar and Opposite Words

contorting

verb

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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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 There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters. — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contorting

Verb

But attorneys for the group Defenders of Wildlife said the government was distorting the environmental law’s definition of a species by focusing only on the populations in Minnesota and the Northern Rockies.

— Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2026
The absurdist look at greed and climate change, reality and the distorting power of media, feckless world leaders and rapacious billionaires, struggled to get off the ground.

— Brent Lang, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of distorting

Verb

These new defects let the material keep deforming safely under extreme pressure instead of snapping.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026
The two valves must then pass one another midway through their strokes, briefly deforming to squeeze past each other before resuming their pumping roles.

— Mike McRae October 12, New Atlas, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of deforming

Verb

Guevara has never been charged with a crime in connection with allegedly torturing supsects, and the statute of limitations has long since expired on any such charges, Felker said.

— Chris Tye, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026
In 1996, Pike was found guilty of first-degree murder for beating, torturing and killing Slemmer, a fellow Jobs Corps worker, in a remote area of the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.

— Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of torturing

Verb

Unlike MacKay’s Ferrars, seemingly the more loyal and irreproachable type, both men end up screwing over the Dashwoods in their own ways.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026
In a video from March 4, 2019, her co-worker David Xu can be seen approaching her desk, pouring a substance into the bottle, screwing the lid back on and quickly walking away.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of screwing

Verb

Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, meanwhile, became the first American team to win a medal in Olympic mixed doubles curling, taking silver.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
The striker managed to regain possession, used his quick feet to dance past two defenders before curling an effort into the top corner.

— Andy Jones, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of curling

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“Contorting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contorting. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of contorting

verb

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