ghastly

adjective
UK: /ˈɡɑːstli/
US: /ˈɡæstli/

  1. Very unpleasant or shocking.

    1. The food was ghastly and the service was slow.
    2. The ghastly accident made her think about her own mortality every day.

  2. Extremely bad or of very low quality.

    1. He has a ghastly taste in clothes.
    2. The play was a ghastly attempt to modernize a classic novel.

  3. Resembling a ghost, especially in being pale or ill-looking.

    1. She looked ghastly after her illness.
    2. The patient had a ghastly complexion and was clearly in a great deal of pain.

Synonyms

hideous gruesome appalling awful terrible dreadful shocking frightful horrible
ghastly adverb

  1. In a terrible or shocking manner.

    1. He behaved ghastly at the party.
    2. The singer performed ghastly, missing notes and forgetting the lyrics entirely.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "ghastly" in English means: Very unpleasant or shocking., Extremely bad or of very low quality., Resembling a ghost, especially in being pale or ill-looking..

The phonetic transcription of "ghastly" is /ˈɡɑːstli/ in British English and /ˈɡæstli/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "ghastly": hideous, gruesome, appalling, awful, terrible, dreadful, shocking, frightful, horrible.

Example usage of "ghastly": "The food was ghastly and the service was slow.". More examples on the page.