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ghastly - 5 dictionary results

ghast⋅ly

  [gast-lee, gahst-] adjective, -li⋅er, -li⋅est, adverb
Use ghastly in a Sentence
–adjective
1. shockingly frightful or dreadful; horrible: a ghastly murder.
2. resembling a ghost, esp. in being very pale: a ghastly look to his face.
3. terrible; very bad: a ghastly error.
–adverb
4. Also, ghast⋅li⋅ly, ghast⋅i⋅ly. in a ghastly manner; horribly; terribly.
5. with a deathlike quality.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME gastly; see ghast, -ly

Related forms:
ghast⋅li⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. deathlike, pallid, cadaverous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ghast·ly   (gāst'lē)   
adj.   ghast·li·er, ghast·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.]
ghast'li·ness n., ghast'ly adv.
Synonyms: 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, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ghastly

Ghast"ly\, a. [Compar. Ghastlier; superl. Ghastliest.] [OE. gastlich, gastli, fearful, causing fear, fr. gasten to terrify, AS. g[ae]stan. Cf. Aghast, Gast, Gaze, Ghostly.]

1. Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid; dismal.

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang. --Coleridge.

His face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be recognized. --Macaulay.

2. Horrible; shocking; dreadful; hideous.

Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail. --Milton.

Ghastly

Ghast"ly\, adv. In a ghastly manner; hideously.

Staring full ghastly like a strangled man. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ghastly
Spanish: horrible, espantoso,
German: haarsträubend,
Japanese: ひどい
More Translations »

ghastly 
c.1305, from O.E. gæstan "to torment, frighten" + -lich "-ly." Spelling with gh- developed 16c. from confusion with ghost.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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