ghastly
pronunciation
How to pronounce ghastly in British English:
UK [ˈgɑ:stli]
How to pronounce ghastly in American English:
US [ˈgæstli]
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- Adjective:
- shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
- gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
Word Origin
- ghastly
- ghastly: [14] Despite its similarity in form and sense, ghastly is not related to ghost. It was formed from the Middle English verb gasten ‘terrify’, which may have been a descendant of the Old English verb gǣstan ‘torment’ (source of aghast). The spelling with gh-, based on ghost, was first used by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser, and in due course caught on generally.=> aghast
- ghastly (adj.)
- c. 1300, gastlich, "inspiring fear or terror, hideous, shocking," with -lich (see -ly (2)) + gast (adj.) "afraid, frightened," past participle of gasten "to frighten," from Old English gæstan "to torment, frighten" (see ghost (n.)). Spelling with gh- developed 16c. from confusion with ghost. Middle English also had gastful in the same sense, but this is now obsolete. Sidney and Shakespeare also used ghastly as an adverb. Related: Ghastliness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Here is a marvellous , ghastly book .
- 2. One way of avoiding that ghastly outcome may be to keep pyongyang talking .
- 3. Sugar 's problem was much more serious and " ghastly " , to use a favourite shelley expression .
- 4. A way of making bladder examinations slightly less ghastly
- 5. On its walls are lurid murals depicting the statue of liberty with a ghastly skull for a face and guns decorated with the stars and stripes .