anamorphic

adjective

ana·​mor·​phic ˌa-nə-ˈmȯr-fik 

: producing, relating to, or marked by intentional distortion (as by unequal magnification along perpendicular axes) of an image

an anamorphic lens

Examples of anamorphic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Shooting on digital with vintage anamorphic lenses, Mangold’s longtime cinematographer Phedon Papamichael captures the textures, the light and Kodachrome colors of the era. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024

As Noa searches for his tribe after a violent attack on his village in the name of an ape called Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), the film’s visuals — in harsh sunlight and shot in widescreen anamorphic — hark to the franchise’s roots. —Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024

Wide glimpses of the mountain ranges, shot with anamorphic lenses, display the vast landscape that dwarfs Clara, her peers, family and budding dreams. —Holly Jones, Variety, 3 Dec. 2024

That led to the creation of the game’s cinematic in-game camera, which has customizable film grain, vignettes and barrel distortion meant to mimic the anamorphic lenses of ’70s cameras. —Diego Ramos Bechara, Variety, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French anamorphique, derivative (by analogy with other derivatives with -morphique -morphic) of anamorphose "anamorphosis (image produced by a distorting optical system)," borrowed from New Latin anamorphosis, probably from Greek ana- ana- + -morphōsis (as in metamórphōsis "transformation, metamorphosis")

Note: The New Latin word anamorphosis in reference to optical distortion was apparently introduced by the German Jesuit scientific writer Gaspar Schott (1608-66) in his Magia universalis naturae et artis (Würzburg, 1657), p. 100 ff.

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined above