What does ghastly mean?
Ghastly is an adjective meaning extremely awful, unpleasant, frightening, or shocking. Its common modern use is evaluative: a meal, experience, wound, or piece of news may be called ghastly when it is bad enough to provoke strong disgust or dismay. The word can also describe something that causes horror or revulsion, and, less commonly, a face or complexion that is deathly pale or eerily ghostly. Because it carries a dark and emotionally forceful association, ghastly is often more dramatic than simply “bad,” though in informal contexts it can be used humorously or hyperbolically. It appears in both British and American English and is especially memorable because it combines an ordinary adjective ending with a word’s older associations with spirits, death, and the supernatural. Its history gives it a vivid character: what once evoked a ghostly or eerie quality now commonly signals something overwhelmingly dreadful.
adjectiveExtremely bad, unpleasant, frightening, or shocking; often used to describe something that is so awful it evokes horror or dismay.
- So bad, unpleasant, or shocking as to cause dismay or intense dislike.
- Causing horror, terror, or revulsion.
- Deathly pale or eerily ghostly in appearance.
"The old house looked ghastly in the pale morning light."
"The weather during the hike was absolutely ghastly, with sleet and relentless wind."
"She turned pale, her expression ghastly after hearing the news."
Ghastly began with a ghostly association, but its modern power comes from making something sound so awful that the word itself seems to chill the air.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ghastly come from?
Ghastly developed in Middle English from a form related to Old English gāst, meaning “spirit” or “ghost,” together with a suffix expressing likeness. Its spelling developed alongside the related word ghostly, combining an older g with the h of ghost. In early use it could mean ghostly or eerie, before the word broadened to mean dreadful, horrible, or shockingly awful.
Related word forms
How ghastly is actually used
Ghastly is strongly evaluative and emotionally charged. In informal speech it can be used hyperbolically for anything especially distasteful or unpleasant, while in descriptive or historical contexts it may convey a more literal sense of terror, horror, or deathly pallor.
Easily confused with ghastly
Ghostly means relating to or resembling a ghost, whereas ghastly usually means terrifyingly awful or intensely unpleasant, though it can also describe a deathly-pale appearance.