ghastly

English

Etymology

From a derivation of Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”) with the suffix -lic. Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with 'gh' developed 16th century from confusion with ghost; cf. also ghostly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɡɑːs(t).li/
• (US) IPA: /ˈɡæs(t).li/

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Adjective

ghastly (comparative ghastlier, superlative ghastliest)

1. Horrifyingly shocking.
2. Extremely bad.

   The play was simply ghastly.

Translations

horrifyingly shocking

• Dutch: afgrijselijk (nl), afschuwelijk (nl), verschrikkelijk (nl)
• Finnish: kauhistuttava (fi), kauhea (fi), kamala (fi), kaamea (fi)
• Portuguese: assustador (pt), horripilante (pt), medonho (pt)

• Romanian: oribil (ro), groaznic (ro)
• Russian: ужасный (ru) (užasnyj), страшный (ru) (strašnyj)
• Spanish: espantoso (es), horripilante (es)

extremely bad

• Dutch: afgrijselijk (nl), afschuwelijk (nl), verschrikkelijk (nl), abominabel (nl)
• Finnish: kauhea (fi), kamala (fi), kaamea (fi)

• Romanian: lamentabil (ro)
• Russian: отвратительный (ru) (otvratitelʹnyj)

Synonyms

• lurid

Adverb

ghastly (not comparable)

1. In a ghastly manner.

   He turned ghastly pale on hearing the news.