GHOULISH Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

ghoulish

adjective

Definition of ghoulish

as in ghostly

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of ghoulish The Ghastly Grotto started its life as a simple CostCo shed, but Mitchell has since turned it into a full-scale tiki bar, with niches and grottos packed with art, figurines and other bric-a-brac, all with a ghoulish bent. — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 18 July 2026 But my deepest, most ghoulish questions, no investigation could answer. — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026 The fear and horror is handled dramatically without becoming grisly or ghoulish. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026 Concept art for Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake shows the street party will include familiar Haunted Mansion characters like the cemetery caretaker, grave diggers, ballroom dancers and a few ghoulish ghosts. — Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 2 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for ghoulish

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghoulish

Adjective

When Brolin’s voice takes on a ghostly presence inside the whale, the emotional insistence grows louder without becoming more persuasive.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
As the 1986 return approached, people who remembered that earlier appearance likely told their children and grandchildren about being awakened before dawn and taken outside to see a huge, ghostly, gleaming object in the sky.

— Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of ghostly

Adjective

The Sentinel-2 pair observe and capture imagery of our planet in different wavelengths using a high-resolution multispectral imager that can see 13 different spectral bands, or ranges of wavelengths.

— Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Glimmers of that surprise — and the spectral essence of mutability that attends to it — can be found in every shot, some of them more than others.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of spectral

Adjective

The results in Game 1 were ghastly, reminding fans of the infinibuild Oilers who could not and would not play defence.

— Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Does the movie go too easy on the man who eventually gave us Fox News and decades of ghastly politics?

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of ghastly

Adjective

For instance, Siri’s lack of thinking power compared with other ultra-smart AI agents means that there’s far less of a chance of going rogue, or behaving in eerie ways.

— Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister An eerie fable that seems to take place across and outside of time, The Bog Wife is already a classic of the modern bog-core genre.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of eerie

Adjective

Starting October 20, once again, the Golden Arches are ringing in the spookiest time of year with their iconic Boo Buckets.

— Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2026
To make things spookier, Warnke didn't have a hospital badge, meaning all the doors along the corridor were locked to her.

— Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of spooky

Adjective

The vestiges of his fading memory flash by with a haunting plainness, the melancholy of all this Americana and the sadness of a mind ravaged by time strike the viewer plainly at the end of this maximalist piece of life-writing.

— Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
The film’s musical score, by Damon Albarn of Blur, has a haunting Bowie-like party-on-the-abyss shimmer.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of haunting

Adjective

Palmer doesn’t appear until the last 15 minutes, but her creepy performance is indelible.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
As her son Rauri, Murphy plays a creepy, brooding university dropout whom audiences also can’t help sympathize with.

— Isabelle Farina, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of creepy

Browse Nearby Words

ghoulies

ghoulish

ghoulishness

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“Ghoulish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghoulish. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of ghoulish

adjective

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