ghastly

1 extremely disturbing or repellent a ghastly murder that shocked even hard-bitten detectives Synonyms of ghastly appalling, atrocious, awful, dreadful, frightful, horrible, grisly, gruesome (also grewsome), hideous, horrendous, horrid, horrific, horrifying, lurid, macabre, monstrous, nightmare, nightmarish, shocking, terrible, terrificWords 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, unsightlyNear 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, intense, hard, heavy, heavy-duty, hellacious, intensive, keen, profound, terrible, vehement, vicious, violentWords Related to ghastly accentuated, aggravated, concentrated, deepened; emphasized, enhanced, heightened, intensified, magnified; stressed; exhaustive, thorough; harsh, rigorous, severeNear Antonyms of ghastly feeble, weak; shallow, superficial; moderated, qualified; alleviated, eased, lightened, toned (down); abated, decreased, diminished, lessened, reduced, subduedAntonyms 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, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightening, frightful, fearful, hair-raising, horrendous, horrible, horrifying, intimidating, redoubtable, scary, shocking, spine-chilling, terrible, terrifyingWords 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, nightmarishNear Antonyms of ghastly calming, comforting, consoling, inviting, lulling, pacifying, quieting, reassuring, relaxing, soothing, tranquilizing (also tranquillizing); nonintimidating, nonthreatening