twisted

adjective

twist·​ed ˈtwi-stəd 

: mentally or emotionally unsound or disturbed : sick

a cruel, twisted mind

And you know there will be some strange and twisted bitter man who will listen to all our messages.

—Cynthia Heimel

Synonyms

• bending
• crazy
• crooked
• curled
• curling
• curved
• curving
• curvy
• devious
• serpentine
• sinuous
• tortuous
• twisting
• winding
• windy

Examples of twisted in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lead actor Nathan Meister returns to the role of Henry Oldfield, the sheep-phobic son of a farmer who discovers his twisted older brother has been carrying out dangerous genetic experiences on his livestock, which transform them from docile vegetarians to ruthless, carnivorous killers. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2024

The other two tales — equally twisted takes on Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks — offer additional cultural insight into the era. —EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024

Watch on Netflix Lovecraft Country Atticus Freeman travels across 1950s America to find his father, but the horrors awaiting this young Black man reach beyond Jim Crow into Lovecraft’s twisted imagination. —Simon Hill, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024

But the most auteur horror experience of the 2024 Halloween season comes from the twisted mind that brought you The Idol: Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined above