Definition of distortion in English:

noun

• 1The action of distorting or the state of being distorted.

  ‘the virus causes distortion of the leaves’

  count noun ‘deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Thickness is not an entirely free parameter, though; overly thin components suffer from poor flatness or transmitted wavefront distortion.’
  • ‘Recently, researchers have proposed a set of approaches that use different techniques to correct perspective distortion.’
  • ‘Birch intentionally warps perspective and depth in a way that brings to mind jazz music and its deliberate distortion of pitch and timbre.’
  • ‘A fast pixel response helps eliminate ‘ghosting’ and distortion often seen on LCD monitors with slower response times.’
  • ‘Though the picture may show distortion, the video quality is generally good; the sound is even better.’
  • ‘This helps avoid damage, data loss or distortion.’
  • ‘There is no curvature, thus distortion is eliminated.’
  • ‘Another important consideration is minimizing distortion.’
  • ‘The real challenge, then, is to be able to correct for distortion between the template and wafer.’
  • ‘But some tweeter domes made of traditional materials such as aluminium are susceptible to distortion at high frequencies.’
  • ‘Acceptable levels of distortion are dependent upon the solver being used.’
  • ‘Circuit bandwidth reduction, attenuation distortion, non-linear distortion and noise also can lower the values.’
  • ‘Other impairments include single frequency intermodulation distortion, impulse noise, co-channel interference and ghosting.’
  • ‘Drop distortion should not occur in the Space Station's low gravity environment, and the drops can be held on strings.’
  • ‘This gives rise to inter-modulation distortion and clipping noises.’
  • ‘The head-end BDA is a high gain amplifier with very low distortion characteristics.’
  • ‘The optical quality of the medium makes this fidelity possible by minimizing distortion.’
  • ‘This can cause audible distortion in the sound.’
  • ‘This added physical distortion of the lens, however, adds aberration.’
  • ‘The standoff can provide a vent to prevent pressure in the gap from causing distortion or damage.’

  Synonyms

  warp, twist, contortion, bend, buckle, deformation, deformity, curve, curvature, malformation, disfigurement, crookedness

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1count noun A distorted form or part.
     ‘a distortion in the eye's shape or structure’

     More example sentences

     • ‘Such distortions turn dangerous zealots into icons.’
     • ‘Henderson was a master of playful and sinister distortions, cleverly achieved in the darkroom.’
     • ‘The Cambridge researchers found that 70% of melanoma cases were due to distortions in the B-RAF gene.’
     • ‘It creates needless distortions in the market.’
     • ‘Dr Thomas said her frailty and distortion in her back contributed to pneumonia, causing her death.’
     • ‘From the mid-1880s he began to use violent colour and linear distortions to express the most elemental emotions of fear, love, and hatred.’
     • ‘And, despite your distortions of the truth, once again, Boingboing has never claimed they are a source for hard news on their blog.’
     • ‘This has, I have noted, involved some rather ludicrous distortions of evidence as well as grand extrapolations from limited bases of data.’
     • ‘Equally, Shakespeare's distortions of history, to which Miles occasionally refers, are, in and of themselves, important.’

• 2The action of giving a misleading account or impression.

  ‘we're fed up with the media's continuing distortion of our issues’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Their policies have to deal with the real world of interest groups, elections and media distortion.’
  • ‘The demographic distortions of gender bias are thought to have been greater in China because of the country's one-child policy.’
  • ‘There are also biases and distortions in the written word.’
  • ‘Under the microscope it turns out to be a collection of prejudices masquerading as arguments and distortions dressed up to look like facts.’
  • ‘I have to give a speech next week on media deceit and distortion, and when I saw this very same paper I thought, great!’
  • ‘How can anyone accept blatant half-truths, lies and distortion of history?’
  • ‘In writing about the history of American foreign policy, one must try to avoid perpetuating distortions and perversions of language.’
  • ‘If we cannot establish first that there are distortions and perversions, then this fundamental project is a non-starter.’
  • ‘These policies are then justified by unprecedented distortions and misrepresentations.’
  • ‘It is hard to imagine carelessness, incompetence, prejudice, distortion, falsehood and unfairness being put to better use.’
  • ‘In Australia, cinema-goers get to watch a McDonald's ad arguing that the film they are about to see is full of misleading distortions.’
  • ‘It is an epic of distortion and evasion and contradiction and misleading rhetorical ploys.’
  • ‘Their contribution is smear, distortion, abusive emotionalism and condemnation without engagement.’
  • ‘These involve both factual distortions and misrepresentations of the Geneva Convention on POWs.’
  • ‘Do you gentlemen find that an amazing kind of distortion and deceptive piece of reasoning?’
  • ‘I don't need to lead you through the thickets of distortion, deceit, and self-puffery here.’
  • ‘Relevance was clearly a larger issue than political distortion.’
  • ‘And it will sweep away, once and for all, the web of distortion and deceit that poisons this debate.’
  • ‘But the media echo chamber guarantees further distortion.’
  • ‘Falsehood and distortion are their stock and trade.’

  Synonyms

  misrepresentation, perversion, twisting, falsification, misreporting, misstatement, manipulation

  View synonyms

• 3Change in the form of an electrical signal or sound wave during processing.

  Example sentences

  • ‘These distortion products become increasingly important as the two frequencies approach one another.’
  • ‘For example, distortion of sound is related to the length of the sound.’
  • ‘Seagate's ST1 Series differs from other hard drives because it is designed to compensate for the vibrations and harmonic distortion caused by such high-motion activities.’
  • ‘In this paper Heaviside gave, for the first time, the conditions necessary to transmit a signal without distortion.’
  • ‘This can cause audible distortion in the sound.’
  • ‘Thickness is not an entirely free parameter, though; overly thin components suffer from poor flatness or transmitted wavefront distortion.’
  • ‘Personalised binaural audio is different from stereo, however, because it includes the subtle distortions to the sound caused by the effect of the head and ear shapes of the listener.’
  • ‘The head-end BDA is a high gain amplifier with very low distortion characteristics.’
  • ‘He discovered that a sound stimulus entering the inner ear causes a wave-like distortion to propagate along the basilar membrane.’
  • ‘These results show that the mechanical properties of hair bundles at high sound levels do not generate significant harmonic distortion.’
  • ‘A deep trench which creates a moat around each transistor to isolate it from its neighbours lowers distortion.’
  • ‘Even in clear skies, however, atmospheric distortion is a challenge.’
  • ‘The technique means that less power is needed for higher bandwidths and helps out distortion.’