1
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
a ghastly murder that shocked even hard-bitten detectives
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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
And Petitti, presumably with the backing of his schools, favored a ghastly 24-team model that would have fundamentally altered the regular season.
—
Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2026
Not as some awful sort of ghastly skeleton with a scythe in its hand coming to chop us off.
—Terry Gross, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
In the nineties, ghastly revelations about the mining conditions in countries such as Sierra Leone, shed harsh light on the back end of the business.
—Emilia Petrarca, New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2026
Canadian politicians have directed considerable resources to trying to improve these ghastly trends.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ghastly
Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2026
Not as some awful sort of ghastly skeleton with a scythe in its hand coming to chop us off.
—Terry Gross, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
In the nineties, ghastly revelations about the mining conditions in countries such as Sierra Leone, shed harsh light on the back end of the business.
—Emilia Petrarca, New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2026
Canadian politicians have directed considerable resources to trying to improve these ghastly trends.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ghastly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghastly
Adjective
-
Dahl’s books are fanciful and imaginative, but also dark, cynical, and mean (and, unfortunately, often reflected his real-life ugliness), spinning stories in which gruesome and unpleasant fates befell rotten kids, and adults were frequently selfish, cruel, and not to be trusted.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The evidence at trial included a gruesome video showing Stanfier’s body in the trunk of a car, which had been shared with a woman Jordan-Brooks reportedly met while working at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Emeryville years earlier, court records show.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Finally, consistent physical activity is more important than intense exercise.—
Kaitlin Sullivan,
NBC news,
8 Apr. 2026
-
The songs on the last few Bon Iver albums often sound like excerpts from a longer dialogue, at turns offhanded and intense, among collaborators.—
Mitch Therieau,
Pitchfork,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Some of his acts are dangerous or terrifying.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
In 1972, Ann-Margret fell 22 feet from a stage during a performance — a terrifying moment that could have ended her career.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
There are people like Les Wexner and Leon Black who have allegedly had such horrific abuse and there has not been any investigations.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Because their firstborn son had just died, and so that was horrific.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But maintaining security over the strait would require a high-risk, resource-intensive operation that could be a yearslong American commitment.—
Aamer Madhani,
Fortune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The timetable that Kaufmann laid out Wednesday night envisions intensive design work through the end of this year, with construction starting in 2027.—
Bruce Finley,
Denver Post,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Zack James’ shifty drumming hammers out a drum ’n’ bass redux like a panicked heartbeat while Carney Hemler’s bass lurches in slow motion, replicating the gut drop of a horrible realization.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Fendelman captured that horrible silence in the doc, punctuated by Littlejohn’s niece screaming, feral and raw.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star in Kristoffer Borgli’s rug-pull rom-com, which follows a soon-to-be-married couple whose relationship implodes after a shocking revelation.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The series abruptly concluded with Lois' shocking pregnancy news and Malcolm just starting his freshman year at Harvard.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
At that point, something terrible, something on the scale of the Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014, is not inconceivable.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Between some horrendous screw-ups, terrible decision-making, and some plain old bad luck, their situation, and that of their mother, Linda Morelli (Laurie Metcalf), who is running for mayor, only gets worse.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghastly. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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