Ghastly definition

găstlē
ghastlier ghastliest
See word origin
Frequency:
Horrible; frightful.
adjective
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Extremely unpleasant or bad.
adjective
4
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Causing shock, revulsion, or horror; terrifying.

A ghastly murder.

adjective
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2
Resembling a ghost; pale or pallid.
adjective
3
1
Very bad or unpleasant.
adjective
3
2
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The definition of ghastly is something repellent, horrible, frightful, ugly, macabre or sickly.

Bad injuries that are so horrible you have to look away are an example of ghastly injuries.

A person who is very pale and sick is an example of someone who would be described as looking ghastly.

A really ugly wallpaper is an example of something you would describe as ghastly wallpaper.

adjective
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Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid; dismal.
adjective
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Horrifyingly shocking.
adjective
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Extremely bad.

The play was simply ghastly.

adjective
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In a ghastly manner.

He turned ghastly pale on hearing the news.

adverb
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Ghostlike; pale; haggard.
adjective
1
2

Other Word Forms

Adjective

Base Form:
ghastly
Comparative:
ghastlier
Superlative:
ghastliest

Origin of ghastly

  • Alteration (influenced by ghost) of Middle English gastli from gasten to terrify aghast

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From a derivation of Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”) with the suffix -lic. Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with 'gh' developed 16th century from confusion with ghost; cf. also ghostly.

    From Wiktionary

Ghastly Sentence Examples

  • A fragment of the ghastly structure is in the library of Lincoln cathedral.

  • The whole ghastly mess must be made even bigger!

  • Yes it is absolutely ghastly, I can't bear to have it again.

  • When dad came through the back gate he looked ghastly.

  • An action-packed sticker book crammed with spooky sights and ghastly glowing ghouls!

More sentences

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Words near ghastly in the Dictionary