ghastly

(găst'lē)
adj., -li·er, -li·est.

1. Inspiring shock, revulsion, or horror by or as if by suggesting death; terrifying: a ghastly murder.
2. Suggestive of or resembling ghosts.
3. Extremely unpleasant or bad: "in the most abominable passage of his ghastly little book" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).
4. Very serious or great: a ghastly error.

[Alteration (influenced by GHOST) of Middle English gastli, from gasten, to terrify. See aghast.]

ghastliness ghast'li·ness n.
ghastly ghast'ly adv.

SYNONYMS   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.

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adjective

1. Shockingly repellent: grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid, lurid, macabre. See beautiful/ugly.
2. Causing or able to cause fear: appalling, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, redoubtable, scary, terrible, tremendous. See fear/courage.
3. Gruesomely suggestive of ghosts or death: cadaverous, deadly, deathlike, deathly, ghostlike, ghostly, spectral. See live/die.
4. Very bad: appalling, awful, dreadful, fearful, frightful, horrendous, horrible, shocking, terrible. See good/bad.

adj

Definition: horrifying, dreadful
Antonyms: delightful, pleasant, pleasing, wonderful

adv

Definition: horrifying
Antonyms: pleasant

IN BRIEF: Hideous.

If nobody said anything unless he knew what he was talking about, a ghastly hush would descend upon the earth. — Sir Alan Patrick Herbert (1890-1971).

Tutor's tip: A "ghostly" (looking like a ghost) apparition looks "ghastly" (frightening) to the unexpecting viewer.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to ghastly, see:

• Ugly, unattractive, or malformed
• Unappealing, Shabby, Messy, Poor, or Clumsy

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See words rhyming with "ghastly."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Ghastly.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - frygtelig, afskyelig, grufuld

Nederlands (Dutch)
verschrikkelijk, akelig, doodsbleek

Français (French)
adj. - horrible, blafard, épouvantable, blême, livide
adv. - horriblement, effroyablement

Deutsch (German)
adj. - schrecklich, furchtbar, unheimlich, leichenblaß
adv. - schrecklich, furchtbar

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - πελιδνός, κατάχλομος, απαίσιος, φρικτός
adv. - αρρωστημένα

Italiano (Italian)
terribile, sgradevole, pallido come un morto

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - horrível, cadavérico, chocante, muito ruim (coloq.), desagradável (coloq.)
adv. - horrivelmente, cadavericamente, lividamente

Русский (Russian)
ужасный, призрачный, ужасно

Español (Spanish)
adj. - terrible, horrible, espeluznante, escalofriante, pálido, lívido
adv. - terriblemente, horriblemente, en forma escalofriante

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - hemsk, gräslig, spöklik
adv. - hemskt, spöklikt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
可怕的, 惨白的, 惊人的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 可怕的, 慘白的, 驚人的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 매우 무서운, 질린, 괴로운

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - ぞっとするような, 恐ろしい, 青ざめた, ひどい, いやな, ものすごい
adv. - 恐ろしく, 青ざめて

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مروع, شنيع (ظرف) بشكل مروع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חיוור, מזעזע, כמו מת, נורא, דוחה, לא נעים‬

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