Ghastly Meaning
/ˈɡɑːs(t).li/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjLike a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
adjHorrifyingly shocking.
Sentence Examples
He could not by any means tolerate the ghastly smell of rotting onion.
His knee turned a ghastly blackish purple from the swelling.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The horrible accident left a ____ scene that made everyone sick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The victim's face turned a ____ shade of white when he saw the scary movie character appear on the screen.
Word Origin & History
From a conflation of gastly, from Middle English gastly, from gasten (from Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”)) + -ly, and ghostly (which was also spelt gastlich in Middle English). Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with gh developed in the 16th century due to the conflation.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Each turned his face with a ghastly pang."
— 1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:
"His face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be recognized."
— 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
""My men grow mutinous day by day; / My men grow ghastly wan and weak." / The stout mate thought of home; a spray / Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek."
— 1892, Joaquin Miller, Columbus
"They gathered soberly in the farthest recess of the ward and gossiped about him in malicious, offended undertones, rebelling against his presence as a ghastly imposition and resenting him malevolently for the nauseating truth of which he was bright reminder."
— 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:
"Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The horrible accident left a ____ scene that made everyone sick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The victim's face turned a ____ shade of white when he saw the scary movie character appear on the screen.