distortion

a change for the worse

the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean

a shape resulting from distortion

an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image

a change (usually undesired) in the waveform of an acoustic or analog electrical signal; the difference between two measurements of a signal (as between the input and output signal)

“heavy metal guitar players use vacuum tube amplifiers to produce extreme distortion”

the mistake of misrepresenting the facts