ghastly

Meaning

Adj

1. Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
2. Horrifyingly shocking.
3. Extremely bad.

Adv

In a ghastly manner.

Synonyms

horrible

gruesome

grisly

awful

hideous

nasty

dreadful

frightful

abominable

terrible

detestable

loathsome

abhorrent

atrocious

vile

accursed

dismal

dreary

horrid

terrifying

dire

macabre

bleak

appalling

lurid

grim

eerie

pale

charnel

horribly

horrific

horrifying

ominous

horrendous

wan

sepulchral

dreadfully

shocking

awfully

gross

pallid

sick

🤢

low

lowlife

deathlike

frightening

lousy

odious

foul

appallingly

Translations

afgrijselijk

afschuwelijk

horrible

orribile

horroroso

abominabel

scheußlich

orrendo

gräßlich

atrox

aversabilis

abscheulich

verabscheuenswürdig

verabscheuenswert

gräulich

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡɑːs(t).li/

Etymology

From a conflation of gastly, from Middle English gastly, from gasten (from Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”)) + -ly, and ghostly (which was also spelt gastlich in Middle English). Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with gh developed in the 16th century due to the conflation.