contort

You don’t need to contort yourself to fit into someone else’s life, especially if that life doesn’t align with who you are or what you value.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

This is a book of endless storytelling, as characters contort themselves to please the regime’s shifting narratives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

It’ll go down with knotty LPs by Tori Amos and Fiona Apple that contort classical traditions to tangled, personal ends, and this track sums up her mission beautifully.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025

This braced leg then acted as a pivot for the rest of his body to contort over with his bowling arm up high in his unique 'beyond the perpendicular' style.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2024

In this new space, I had time to aim squarely between the moose's eyes, watching his muscles contort and his skin wrinkle as he bent to take another mouthful of grass.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

He also voices his fear that Harvard perverts and contorts young minds.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Nevertheless, a cheeky portion of blue-green paint contorts itself into a standing position in the corner, fighting against the weight that urges the rest of the work Earthward.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained in dissent, this reasoning contorts the English language beyond recognition.

From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026

An actor differs: “One contorts oneself thousands of times, but dies only once … It’s simply not worth it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025

His face contorts to an unflattering mix of frustration and anger.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

There is so much that the public doesn’t know, and even more that can be contorted by disinformation and colloquial slang, making these important subjects the butt of the joke.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026

Luciano had a singular style calling a strike, a twisting motion evocative of the football quarterback Lamar Jackson hurling a contorted cross-body pass to a receiver at the sidelines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Davidson would have to be carried by her teammates and coaches to the bench, where her face contorted in pain as trainers examined her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

Natalie said at times Beth would spend hours lying with her body "contorted" into specific positions that enabled her to bear the agony.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025

Moss stared at it, then up at Daley, whose face was contorted in sadness and hope.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Those people are some of Burning Man’s worst PR reps, contorting the meaning of its principles to suit themselves.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

I have watched videos of people doing cold plunges, giving themselves ear massages and contorting themselves into impossible stretches all in the name of fixing dysregulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

As I crouched behind a rippling fountain, stretching and contorting my body to attain the correct angle, I began to wonder, “Do the Lumineers think I’m some kind of a lunatic?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

Unbeknownst to the congressman, the recent kindergarten graduate ate up the C-SPAN camera, smiling, contorting, and making faces behind his dad’s back.

From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2024

Even Hitler, who had been contorting himself in concert with the athletes, was watching him.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand