ghostly

Meaning

1. Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
2. Spooky; frightening.
3. Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.

Synonyms

spectral

spiritual

ghostlike

apparitional

eerie

phantasmal

spooky

uncanny

weird

pale

wraithlike

supernatural

unearthly

pneumatic

sallow

shadowy

divine

deathlike

spiritually

phantomlike

ungodly

unreal

visionary

wan

whitish

visional

eery

ghastly

fade

dreamlike

illusory

pallid

ghosty

phantom

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡoʊstli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: gostly

Inherited from Old English: gāstlīċ

Cognate with Scots: ghaistly

Cognate with Western Frisian: geastlik

Cognate with Dutch: geestelijk

Cognate with German: geistlich

Cognate with Danish: geistlig

In summary

From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaistalīk (“spiritual”), equivalent to ghost + -ly. Cognate with Scots ghaistly, gaistly (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).