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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
adverbExplore M-W
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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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—
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As if being in space wasn't hard enough on an astronaut's body, they're forced to drink coffee in a ghastly manner.
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By that point, three years into Europe’s ghastliest conflict, neither the British nor their allies had made much progress against the enemy.
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The messages, some of which gained thousands of retweets, offered a small glimmer of hope in an otherwise ghastly night of carnage, confusion and loss.
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The lesson: despite the suffering of sufferings, the horror of an untimely ghastly death, dialogue continues.
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An early scene, in which the helicopters pass through a ghastly electrical storm, isn’t just the usual thing of shaking cameras, smeary cuts and thunderous sound.
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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