ghostly
English
Etymology
From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), equivalent to ghost + -ly. Cognate with Scots gostly, gastly, gaistlie (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 159: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value GenAm is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡoʊstli/
Audio (US): (file)
Adjective
ghostly (comparative ghostlier, superlative ghostliest)
- Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
- a ghostly figure with a hood
- The graveyard was haunted by a ghostly figure of a young girl.
- The ghostly moaning was heard from upstairs.
- Spooky; frightening.
- A ghostly hush fell.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.
- a ghostly confessor
- (Can we date this quote?), Book of Common Prayer
- Save and defend us from our ghostly enemies.
- (Can we date this quote by Jeremy Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- one of the ghostly children of St. Jerome
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:ghostly
Translations
pertaining to ghosts
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spooky, frightening
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See also
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms suffixed with -ly
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- Requests for date/Jeremy Taylor