1
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
a ghastly murder that shocked even hard-bitten detectives
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
I'm afraid that there's been a ghastly misunderstanding
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in terrifying
causing fear
a ghastly crime that made local residents afraid to go out at night
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ghastly
There’s no ghastly passenger touchscreen, no dimwitted haptic touchpads and no infuriating AI assistant.
—
Alistair Charlton, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Car launches are generally ghastly events, and this was way down there with the most hideous… and perhaps gave a clue as to why VW struggles to match its huge European sales success in America.
—New Atlas, 10 Apr. 2026
The ghastly kills are there — innards are spilled on floors, knives go through temples, heads stuck on pikes expel vomitous discharge — but there’s little of the preceding back-and-forth that made such scenes notable in the past and at least conceptually justified the grotesquerie.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
In the two seasons before Motta’s return, the Mavericks were a ghastly 24-140 under Richie Adubato and Quinn Buckner.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghastly
Alistair Charlton, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Car launches are generally ghastly events, and this was way down there with the most hideous… and perhaps gave a clue as to why VW struggles to match its huge European sales success in America.
—New Atlas, 10 Apr. 2026
The ghastly kills are there — innards are spilled on floors, knives go through temples, heads stuck on pikes expel vomitous discharge — but there’s little of the preceding back-and-forth that made such scenes notable in the past and at least conceptually justified the grotesquerie.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
In the two seasons before Motta’s return, the Mavericks were a ghastly 24-140 under Richie Adubato and Quinn Buckner.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghastly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghastly
Adjective
-
This episode is both incredibly gruesome and incredibly funny, and the show maintains an excellent balance between the two extremes.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
-
On Monday evening, protesters burned down a bus as tensions rose in Belfast following the gruesome stabbing, despite earlier calls from authorities for calm.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
Adjective
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Thanks to more than 200 years of intense and virtuoso scientific work, what were once valid or at least plausible concerns and objections to vaccines have been overcome.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Whether Tuchel will, in fact, be able to produce a more intense high-pressing style this summer, given the climate and the dense schedule, is another matter.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
Adjective
-
The series follows the residents of a remote island town called Widow’s Bay, just off the coast of New England, that just so happens to be cursed and haunted with all manner of terrifying things.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
-
The premise sees the town’s citizens coming around a campfire and spilling the beans on some of most terrifying deeds.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
In 1984, following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of India's prime minister by her Sikh bodyguard triggered horrific mob violence that killed thousands of Sikhs across the country, pushing many more to flee.—
Akash Pamarthy,
NPR,
6 June 2026
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In this true crime documentary, Emmy-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus and her team examine the timeline leading up to the horrific incident, offering a different explanation behind one of New York's worst motor vehicle accidents.—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
They were released later with ankle monitors and placed under an intensive supervision program requiring frequent check-ins at an ICE office in Portland.—
Carol Rose Little,
The Conversation,
12 June 2026
-
According to the company, Samsung’s HBM4E delivers a stable pin speed of 14 gigabits-per-second (Gbps), with performance scalable up to 16Gbps to support increasingly intensive data processing requirements.—
Thomas Coughlin,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
The companies try to slow down this process by submerging it in oil, but the resulting flavor is horrible.—
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner,
Martha Stewart,
13 June 2026
-
Your cab driver is taking you on a horrible route.—
Zach Schiffman,
Curbed,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
Here are the five most shocking moments from Dutton Ranch season 1, episode 6.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
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While this may seem shocking, the most important variables found by Yartseva are informative.—
Bill Stone,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
In 2012, a powerful quake visited terrible damage on the city of Modena, Bottura’s home and host to his restaurant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
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The letter writer’s cousin has cancer, and the chemo gives her terrible side effects.—
Eric Thomas,
Sun Sentinel,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghastly. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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