Definition of ghastly
ghastlier
;ghastliest
1a : terrifyingly horrible to the senses : frightening a ghastly crimeb : intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable such a life seems ghastly in its emptiness and sterility — Aldous Huxley
2 : resembling a ghost
3 obsolete : filled with fear
4 : very great a ghastly mistake
ghastliness
nounghastly
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Examples of ghastly in a Sentence
You're making a ghastly mistake.
His room was a ghastly mess.
Recent Examples of ghastly from the Web
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Attackers beheaded their enemies and even ate their organs in ghastly rituals.
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Spell: There is, hidden from view, tucked away in the West 30's on the north end of town, heartbreaking poverty and ghastly living conditions that some of our more vulnerable neighbors endure daily.
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Jon Snow has been named King of the North Having reunited with his sister Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and reclaimed Winterfell from the ghastly Boltons, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) was proclaimed King of the North.
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There's an exceptionally ghastly unfinished painting of a woman's head on a surreal green landscape that keeps hanging around in the background of Clare's bedroom and is beyond distracting.
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And in meticulous and ghastly detail Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Center, an associate medical examiner explained exactly what that meant.
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His successor, Pope Benedict, who read many of the ghastly reports during his time as the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, made key policy changes to protect children and hold priests accountable for abuse.
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Our friendships are challenged daily in new and ghastly ways, thanks in large part to social media and texting.
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As sectarian death squads ramped up their ethnic cleansing of Baghdad neighborhoods, ghastly discoveries across the city became routine—
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ghastly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of ghastly
Middle English gastly, from gasten to terrify — more at gast
Synonym Discussion of ghastly
GHASTLY Defined for English Language Learners
ghastly
playDefinition of ghastly for English Language Learners
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: very shocking or horrible
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: very bad
GHASTLY Defined for Kids
Learn More about ghastly
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See words that rhyme with ghastly Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ghastly Spanish Central: Translation of ghastly Nglish: Translation of ghastly for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ghastly for Arabic speakers
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