ghastly

ghast·ly

Use ghastly in a sentence

adjective

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.

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"ghastly." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly>.

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ghastly. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly

ghastly

adjective

-·lier, -·li·est

horrible; frightful
ghostlike; pale; haggard
Informal very bad or unpleasant

Origin of ghastly

Middle English gastli from gast, frightened, past participle of gasten, to frighten from Old English gæstan from gæst, variant, variety of gast (see ghost): meaning influenced, influence in Middle English by gostlich, ghostly

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MLA Style

"ghastly." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly>.

APA Style

ghastly. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly

ghastly

adjective

ghast·li·er, ghast·li·est

Causing shock, revulsion, or horror; terrifying: a ghastly murder.
Resembling a ghost; pale or pallid.
Extremely unpleasant or bad: “in the most abominable passage of his ghastly little book” ( Conor Cruise O'Brien )

Origin of ghastly

Alteration (influenced by ghost ) of Middle English gastli from gasten to terrify ; see aghast .

Related Forms:

ghast′li·ness
noun

ghast′ly
adverb

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Cite this page

MLA Style

"ghastly." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly>.

APA Style

ghastly. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly

ghastly

ghastly grim gruesome grisly macabre lurid

These adjectives describe what is shockingly repellent in aspect or appearance. Ghastly applies to what inspires shock or horror because it suggests death: ghastly wounds. Grim refers to what repels because of its stern or fierce aspect or its harsh, relentless nature: the grim task of burying the victims of the earthquake. Gruesome and grisly describe what horrifies or revolts because of its appalling crudity or utter inhumanity: a gruesome murder; grisly jokes about cadavers. Macabre suggests the horror of death and decay: macabre stories about a madman. Lurid sometimes refers to an unnatural hue suggestive of death: The ill patient's skin took on a lurid pallor. More often, the term describes what shocks because of its terrible and ghastly nature: lurid crimes. At other times, it merely refers to glaring and usually unsavory sensationalism: a lurid account of the accident.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"ghastly." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly>.

APA Style

ghastly. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ghastly

Adjective

(comparative ghastlier, superlative ghastliest)

Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid; dismal.
Horrifyingly shocking.
Extremely bad.
The play was simply ghastly.

Adverb

(not comparable)

In a ghastly manner.
He turned ghastly pale on hearing the news.

Origin

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.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.