Words / B2

di-STORSHUN/dɪˈstɔːʃn/

A distortion is a twisted or inaccurate version: a distortion of the facts; price distortions. Distort is already in the dictionary. Misrepresentation is a close legal twin. Bias is already in the dictionary and is a leaning; distortion is the warped output. Do not call a rounding error a distortion unless it changes the meaning.

Meaning

A change that makes something look or sound false or inaccurate.

Examples

• “The headline was a distortion of the study’s cautious conclusion.”
• “Tax rules created distortions in the housing market, which is the economics sense.”

Good to know

a distortion of the facts / data. Verb: distort. Close: misrepresentation. Related: bias. Economics: price distortions.

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