ghastly
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
ghastly
- /ˈɡɑːs(t).li/ UK
- /ˈɡas(t).li/ Northern England, Scotland
- /ˈɡæs(t).li/ US
Rhymes with -ɑːstli (RP), -æstli (US, Northern England, Scotland)
Where it comes from
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.
adjective ghastlier · ghastliest
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: macabre, grisly, gruesome, grim, alarming, offensive, sepulchral, charnel, lurid, nasty, horrific, horrifying, appalling, dreadful, atrocious, miserable
Translations
Every language
adj Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid
| Español | fantasmal, cadavérico, cadaveroso (disused) |
|---|---|
| Français | blafard, livide |
| Deutsch | geisterhaft |
adj horrifyingly shocking
| Español | espantoso, horripilante, horrible, horroroso, horrendo |
|---|---|
| Português | assustador, horripilante, medonho |
| Français | épouvantable, effrayant, atroce |
| Deutsch | grässlich, gespenstisch, haarsträubend |
| Italiano | terrificante, spaventoso, agghiacciante |
| Română | oribil, groaznic |
| Русский | ужа́сный užásnyj, стра́шный strášnyj |
adj extremely bad
| Español | malísimo, horrible, terrible, horripilante, horrendo, horroroso |
|---|---|
| Français | affreux, horrible, épouvantable, atroce |
| Deutsch | schauderhaft, furchtbar |
| Italiano | terribile, pessimo, obbrobrioso, orribile |
| Română | lamentabil |
| Русский | отврати́тельный otvratítelʹnyj |
Talk about this word "ghastly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ghastly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ghastly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ghastly "ghastly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ghastly.Cite this
@misc{ghastly_2026,
title = {ghastly},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ghastly},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
