ghastly
shockingly frightful or dreadful; horrible: a ghastly murder.
resembling a ghost, especially in being very pale: a ghastly look to his face.
terrible; very bad: a ghastly error.
Also ghast·li·ly, ghast·i·ly. in a ghastly manner; horribly; terribly.
with a deathlike quality.
Origin of ghastly
1Other words for ghastly
Other words from ghastly
- ghast·li·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ghastly in a sentence
No footlights, but tragedy—mightier, ghastlier than Ristori or Edwin Booth ever acted.
The Abominations of Modern Society | Rev. T. De Witt TalmageMeanwhile her face faded into a deadlier pallor and her form wasted to a ghastlier thinness.
Victor's Triumph | Mrs. E. D. E. N. SouthworthIts unmeaningness was ghastly, and the ghastlier for the greatness of its bald and lifeless stare.
The Frozen Pirate | W. Clark RussellBut sometimes that garden produced another and a ghastlier crop.
Under the Red Crescent | Charles S. RyanPresently he reappeared, looking, if possible, ghastlier than before.
British Dictionary definitions for ghastly
/ (ˈɡɑːstlɪ) /
informal very bad or unpleasant
deathly pale; wan
informal extremely unwell; ill: they felt ghastly after the party
terrifying; horrible
unhealthily; sickly: ghastly pale
archaic in a horrible or hideous manner
Origin of ghastly
1Derived forms of ghastly
- ghastliness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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