ghastly

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
  2. adjective gruesomely indicative of death or the dead

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

grim, grisly, gruesome, macabre, sick

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