Contortion is the act of twisting or bending your body into unusual, difficult positions that most people can't achieve. A contortionist practices for years to develop extreme flexibility, learning to bend backward until their head touches their feet, or fold themselves into very small boxes.

You might see contortionists performing in circuses or talent shows, where they amaze audiences by seeming to defy the normal limits of the human body. Some can move their joints in ways that look almost impossible, or twist their spines into extreme curves.

The word also describes twisting something out of its normal shape. You might see the contortions of a tree that grew in constant wind, its trunk and branches twisted and bent. When someone describes a face twisted in pain or anger, they might call it a contortion of the features.

In a more abstract sense, people sometimes use contortion to describe twisting facts or logic to make them fit a particular argument. If someone performs logical contortions to defend a weak point, they're bending the truth in awkward, unconvincing ways, like a person trying to squeeze into a space that's too small.