Chinese word

扭曲

Pronunciation

Pinyinniǔ qū

Meaning

  • verbdistort

Example

媒体把报道扭曲了。méi tǐ bǎ bào dào niǔ qū le

The media distorted the report.

Illustration for 扭曲 (distort)

More examples

历史事件的细节常被后人选择性引用并扭曲其意义。lì shǐ shì jiàn de xì jié cháng bèi hòu rén xuǎn zé xìng yǐn yòng bìng niǔ qū qí yì yì

Details of historical events are often selectively quoted by later generations, who distort their meaning.

Core concept

Bends a fact, idea, or message off its true line, making the result misleading.

Common phrases

  • 扭曲意义niǔ qū yì yì

    distort meaning

  • 扭曲公众舆论niǔ qū gōng zhòng yú lùn

    distort public opinion

  • 扭曲记忆niǔ qū jì yì

    distort memory

Similar words

歪曲wāi qū: To deliberately twist facts or their meaning and make them seem different from the truth.
曲解qū jiě: To interpret someone's words or writing in a self-serving way that changes their intended meaning.
篡改cuàn gǎi: To change the original content of a document or record without authorization.
捏造niē zào: To make up an event or piece of evidence that never existed and claim it is real.

Definition in Chinese

表示通过改动、夸大、删节或断章取义等手法，使事实、话语或观点与原意不符，常含贬义。biǎo shì tōng guò gǎi dòng kuā dà shān jié huò duàn zhāng qǔ yì děng shóu fǎ shǐ shì shí huà yǔ huò guān diǎn yǔ yuán yì bù fú cháng hán biǎn yì

Word origin

扭 (niǔ, "twist") + 曲 (qū, "bend") describes a change from a straight or proper form, providing the word's concrete basis for judging altered meaning.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, the word sounds like an accusation of unfair handling, so it is used when the departure from the source matters, not for every small mistake.

Other meanings

  • misinterpretverb
  • twistverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 扭曲性niǔ qū xìngdistortionnoun

Word lists with this word