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Glite Dictionary
to twist around

to twist around

1 6.4
Change words or facts to make a person look bad
  • phrasal verb
  • /twɪst əˈraʊnd/
translation icon : distorsionar
  • Don't twist around my comments; I was clear about my intentions.

Examples

  • It would be too easy for them to twist your words around.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Your ability to twist things around is incredible.

    The Comeback Trail (2020)

  • "I mean, you can take what I say and twist it around."

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "He's not going to do this to her, not going to subvert her question with questions of his own so he can twist things around to suit himself.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • It's easy for people to twist around the facts to suit their own agenda.

  • She tried to twist around his words to make it seem like he agreed with her.

Synonyms

to manipulate
vsto twist around
382 6.1

To control people or things in a clever, often dishonest way

is narrower, specifically about changing meaning to mislead rather than general control
to twist
vsto twist around
144 6.3

To change what someone said to make it mean something different, often to mislead

has identical meaning but uses different word order
to distort
vsto twist around
97 4.6

To change facts so they become false or misleading

emphasizes deliberate change of meaning to deceive not accidental change
to warp
vsto twist around
30 7.4

To change facts or stories so they are not true

implies deliberate change aimed at misleading rather than accidental shift
to pervert
vsto twist around
16 7.2

Change the meaning or purpose so it becomes wrong

focuses on deliberate corruption of meaning rather than simple misstatement
to fudge
vsto twist around
11 7.5

To change numbers or facts dishonestly to hide the truth

focuses on deliberate distortion of meaning not just small inaccuracies
to garble
vsto twist around
8 8.0

To change a message so people cannot understand it

is more about intentional distortion to mislead rather than accidental muddling
to bend the truth
vsto twist around
3 5.9

To say something that is not exactly what happened to make it look better

is stronger, targeting deliberate misleading change rather than mild adjustment
to sophisticate
vsto twist around
  • Formal
9.9

To use unclear or false words to make people believe something untrue

focuses on direct distortion to mislead rather than subtle argumentation
to fudge the details
vsto twist around
  • Informal
7.7

Change facts on purpose to make something seem better

is broader, changing whole meaning to deceive rather than only details

Antonyms

to explain
∞ 1.0

To make something clear by describing it in simple words

to clarify
248 3.3

To make something clear so others can understand it

How Distorted

to pervert
16 7.2
to falsify
  • Formal
44 7.3
to twist around
1 6.4
to spin
  • Literature
111 7.5

Surface Forms

twist around infinitive
twisted around past
twisted around past participle
twisting around present participle
twists around third person singular

Morphology

twist + around

The core verb 'twist' already conveys the idea of bending or distorting, and the particle 'around' adds a sense of manipulation or moving something about; combined they straightforwardly yield 'distort/misrepresent'. Even though 'around' was not defined in the input, its common spatial/particle senses make the composite meaning predictable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Twist around comes from a simple picture: when you twist something around you turn it so it looks different, like bending a rope or a line of words. So twist around came to mean 'to change or bend the meaning' of what was said, often to 'fool' people.