twisted - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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]

twisted (comparative more twisted, superlative most twisted)

  1. Consisting of two or more threads, strands or the like intertwined; formed by twisting or twining. [from 1548]
  2. (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.
  3. (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.
  4. (originally Colorado) 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?"
  5. (of the stem of a wine glass) Having a spiral ornament inside. [from 1897]
  6. (figurative, obsolete) Intimately associated or connected; united; combined. [1574–1665]

twisted

  1. simple past and past participle of twist

contorted

wound spirally — see also braided

mentally disturbed or unsound

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “twisted (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.