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ghastly

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of ghastly

1 extremely disturbing or repellent

  • a ghastly murder that shocked even hard-bitten detectives
Synonyms of ghastly

appalling, atrocious, awful, dreadful, frightful, grisly, gruesome (also grewsome), hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, lurid, macabre, monstrous, nightmare, nightmarish, shocking, terrible, terrific
Words Related to ghastly

alarming, bloodcurdling, dire, direful, fearful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightening, gut-wrenching, hair-raising, heart-stopping, intimidating, redoubtable, scary, terrifying

abhorrent, deplorable, disagreeable, disgusting, distasteful, loathsome, nauseating, noisome, obnoxious, obscene, offensive, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, sickening

abominable, evil, foul, heinous, noxious, odious, unspeakable, vile

grotesque, ugly, unsightly
Near Antonyms of ghastly

agreeable, appealing, attractive, delectable, delicious, delightful, enjoyable, enticing, inviting, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, satisfying, welcome

cheering, comforting, soothing

2 extreme in degree, power, or effect

  • I'm afraid that there's been a ghastly misunderstanding
Synonyms of ghastly

acute, almighty, blistering, deep, dreadful, excruciating, explosive, exquisite, fearful, fearsome, ferocious, fierce, frightful, furious, hard, heavy, heavy-duty, hellacious, intense, intensive, keen, profound, terrible, vehement, vicious, violent
Words Related to ghastly

accentuated, aggravated, concentrated, deepened

emphasized, enhanced, heightened, intensified, magnified

stressed

exhaustive, thorough

harsh, rigorous, severe
Near Antonyms of ghastly

feeble, weak

shallow, superficial

moderated, qualified

alleviated, eased, lightened, toned (down)

abated, decreased, diminished, lessened, reduced, subdued
Antonyms of ghastly

light, moderate, soft

3 causing fear

  • a ghastly crime that made local residents afraid to go out at night
Synonyms of ghastly

alarming, dire, direful, dread, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightening, frightful, hair-raising, horrendous, horrible, horrifying, intimidating, redoubtable, scary, shocking, spine-chilling, terrible, terrifying
Words Related to ghastly

daunting, demoralizing, disconcerting, discouraging, dismaying, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing, startling, threatening, troubling, trying, unnerving

bone-chilling, creepy, eerie (also eery), weird

appalling, atrocious, awful, grisly, gruesome (also grewsome), hideous, horrid, macabre, monstrous, nightmarish
Near Antonyms of ghastly

calming, comforting, consoling, inviting, lulling, pacifying, quieting, reassuring, relaxing, soothing, tranquilizing (also tranquillizing)

nonintimidating, nonthreatening

Synonym Discussion of ghastly

ghastly, grisly, gruesome, macabre, lurid mean horrifying and repellent in appearance or aspect. ghastly suggests the terrifying aspects of corpses and ghosts.
    • a ghastly accident
grisly and gruesome suggest additionally the results of extreme violence or cruelty.
    • an unusually grisly murder
    • suffered a gruesome death
macabre implies a morbid preoccupation with the physical aspects of death.
    • a macabre tale of premature burial
lurid adds to gruesome the suggestion of shuddering fascination with violent death and especially with murder.
    • the lurid details of a crime

Learn More about ghastly

  1. See words that rhyme with ghastly Dictionary: Definition of 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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