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

As much as the series is Mary’s bluestocking origin story, it also spells her freedom, which comes from no longer trying to impress or contort herself to fit the expectations of others.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

Mr. Ali’s attempt to contort it to reflect the controversy over immigration policy is ham-handed and confused.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

When it was retired last year, it was replaced with a newer, fully electric model developers said could contort its metal frame in even more ways.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025

I grab my collar and try to contort my neck to see it.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

“So, this month I had 12 medicinals, 7 bleedings, and 18 enemas,” he concludes, and then his face contorts in horror and confusion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

And when Maddie’s disorder tells her she needs to stay in control, she contorts all of this trendy pastel-colored, serif-typefaced wellness to her favor, using it to fuel her harmful compulsions.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 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

Callahan, 13, contorts herself into a backbend as 7-year-old Hudson fiddles with a balloon and 10-year-old Keegan plays the piano.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2023

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

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

Plus, the trigger used to reverse the shape of the contorted molecule in order to release its energy was hydrochloric acid – a highly corrosive substance that must be neutralised after use.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

So, where did a baseball-loving future MLB star growing up in Sherman Oaks come to such a contorted conclusion?

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026

Acquiring the semiautonomous Danish territory would further elevate his claims to greatness and the status of legend in his own contorted reality.

From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026

“I actually find him really small and contorted and tortured.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2025

He shouted something, and his face looked contorted.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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

“Be-e-each,” I said, contorting my mouth into the same huge smile she had.

From "The Red Umbrella" by Christina Gonzalez