contort

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

He has the preternatural ability to contort his facial expressions ever so slightly, going from innocent to cold and malevolent and back again in a split second.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2025

Ozy leaders were willing not just to fabricate numbers and forge documents, but also to contort themselves to fit into whatever distorted mold they thought would benefit the company.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024

We bonded over the various ways we could contort my Barbie and Ken dolls without breaking them.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

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

Like an ever-so-slight key change in the final chorus, “Mother Mary” gradually contorts the longer Sam and Mary talk.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026

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

From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026

We can literally see it in the shape of the jet stream, which now regularly contorts into deeper waves than it did just a few decades ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2025

Her face contorts, and for a moment I’m afraid she’s going to cry.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Ibrox contorted itself as the goalkeeper performed heroics and then the place let out a guttural groan as Hatate made it third time lucky.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 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

For more than an hour, I had twisted and contorted myself trying without success to get a grip on that two-inch piece of silicone.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2024

“That’s the conclusion of the testing,” he informed her—or rather it—and Eldon Rosen, who regarded him with writhing worry; the elderly mans face contorted, shifted plastically with angry concern.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

But first and foremost, Bad Omens are gifted musicians, and whatever eldritch magic Sebastian wields onstage will always be bolstered by a serious band contorting metal, dark pop and electronic music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

Images of Vance have sprouted up on X contorting his face into that of, well, everything you can imagine.

From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2025

His gift for contorting himself through the air and landing on the designated spot has made him one of the most sought-after stuntmen.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

Their motions and poses are often inscrutable, but their faces are sometimes telegraphic, contorting into open-mouthed expressions of amusement or agony as readable as the masks of comedy and tragedy.

From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2023

Celia grabbed at the burnt tips of her hair, her face contorting in rage.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia