]shən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin distortion-, distortio, from distortus + -ion-, -io -ion
1. : the act of distorting: as
a. : an altering or perverting that essentially falsifies true or accurate facts or true significance
a gross distortion of the news for propaganda purposes
b. : a twisting or deforming out of a natural, normal, or original shape, form, or condition
a distortion of the car chassis resulting from collision
distortion of the sort that later became so striking a feature of Cubist painting — Edgar Levy
distortion of the economic structure of the country
c. psychoanalysis : the censorship of unacceptable unconscious impulses so that they are unrecognizable to the ego in the manifest dream content
2. : the quality or state of being distorted or the product of distortion
the pain showed in the distortion of the facial muscles
most of the books about the Orinoco are spiced with enough distortion and fake adventure to nauseate anyone who knows the country — Marston Bates
the economic distortion and confusion which will be an inevitable aftermath of the war — L.G.Melville
as
a. : a distorted form or image
a painter who paints not observed objects but colorful distortions of them
also : distorted dream content
b. : a lack of proportionality between corresponding dimensions of an object or its optical image resulting from spherical aberration or other defects in the optical system
c. : the change in wave form of a composite wave train (as a signal over a telephone line or radio) due to unequal speed of transmission or nonproportional attenuation of different frequencies
3. : a sound or sound-producing current introduced into an electrical system that results in falsified reproduction of the original current or sound
• dis·tor·tion·al ]shən ə l, ]shnəl\ adjective