twisted

English

Etymology

The sense "intertwined" comes from twist (verb) by the late 15th century. The sense "mentally disturbed, perverted" is probably from twist (“mental peculiarity, perversion”, noun), which is attested by 1811.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈtwɪstɪd/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪstɪd

Adjective

twisted (comparative more twisted, superlative most twisted)

Consisting of two or more threads, strands or the like intertwined; formed by twisting or twining. [from 1548]
(of a person, also with up) Mentally or emotionally distorted or unsound; perverted.
twisted sense of humor

The murders were committed by a twisted sociopath.
- 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 108:
  I was a hard niggah, but not twisted enough to eat and socialize with my peeps knowing I was planning on robbing them before the night was over.
- 1971, Hunter S[tockton] Thompson, “Welcome to Las Vegas”, in The Great Shark Hunt, Simon and Schuster, published 2011, →ISBN, page 531:
  It was almost noon, and we still had more than a hundred miles to go. They would be tough miles. Very soon, I knew, we would both be completely twisted. But there was no going back, and no time to rest. We would have to ride it out.
(by extension) Bent out of shape or out of place; distorted; contorted. [from 1725]
1. (of words) Having the intended meaning altered or misrepresented; misunderstood.
  Don't get this twisted. Just because I don't hate you doesn't mean we're friends.
2. (of facial expressions) Distorted or contorted by tensing the facial muscles.
(originally US) Under heavy influence of intoxicants, usually alcohol and marijuana; very intoxicated.
Dude I’m so twisted right now.
- 1958, John Clellon Holmes, The Horn‎^[1], Open Road Media, published 2015, →ISBN:
  "Man is he high!" someone whispered. "Man, he's twisted! But on what? On what?"
(of the stem of a wine glass) Having a spiral ornament inside. [from 1897]
(figurative, obsolete) Intimately associated or connected; united; combined. [1574–1665]

Verb

twisted

simple past and past participle of twist

Synonyms

(contorted): wry, pretzelled,
(wound spirally): coiled
(mentally disturbed): deranged, disturbed, perverted, sick, warped
(intoxicated): See Thesaurus:drunk or Thesaurus:stoned

Derived terms

Translations

contorted

Catalan: tort (ca)
Finnish: vääristynyt (fi)
French: tordu (fr)
Galician: torto (gl), retorto
German:
Greek:
Ancient: στρεβλός (streblós)
Hindi: टेढ़ा (ṭeṛhā)
Irish: casta
Italian: contorto (it)
Latin: tortus
Portuguese: confusa (pt)
Russian: скру́ченный (ru) (skrúčennyj), кру́ченный (ru) (krúčennyj)
Scottish Gaelic: toinnte
Spanish: torcido (es)
Swedish: vriden (sv), förvriden (sv)
Tagalog: balikuko, baluktot
Tày: bỉu, bểu

wound spirally

Czech: kroucený m
Estonian: keerdunud
Finnish: kiero (fi), kieroutunut
French: vrillé (fr)
Ingrian: keero
Irish: casta
Latin: tortilis
Russian: (e.g. road) изви́листый (ru) (izvílistyj), кру́чёный (ru) (krúčonyj), вито́й (ru) (vitój)
Scottish Gaelic: toinnte
Swedish: skruvad (sv), tvinnad (sv), vriden (sv), snodd (sv), virad

mentally disturbed or unsound

Dutch: verwrongen (nl)
Finnish: kiero (fi), kieroutunut
French: tordu (fr) m
German: gestört (de), verrückt (de)
Italian: perverso (it)
Russian: искаженный (ru) (iskažennyj), извращённый (ru) (izvraščónnyj)
Spanish: retorcido (es)
Swedish: skruvad (sv) (colloquial), vriden (sv) (colloquial)

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “twisted (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

“twisted adj.²”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
“twisted, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
“twisted”, in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University; reproduced on Wordnik: “having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented”
“twisted”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

Dewitts

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “twisted (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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