ghastlier; ghastliest
1
a
: terrifyingly horrible to the senses : frightening
a ghastly crime
b
: intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable
such a life seems ghastly in its emptiness and sterility—
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley2
: resembling a ghost
3
obsolete
: filled with fear
4
: very great
a ghastly mistake
ghastliness
noun
ghastly
adverb
Synonyms
Examples of ghastly in a Sentence
You're making a ghastly mistake.
His room was a ghastly mess.
Recent Examples on the Web
The burial is a ghastly image that starkly illustrates the collateral damage that occurs when powerful people fight.
—Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 1 July 2024
Dracula was inspired by an Irish cholera epidemic Bram Stoker’s mother survived a terrible cholera outbreak and recounted the ghastly scenes to her son years later.
—Big Think, 24 June 2024
The attacks on Christians in Dagestan on Sunday echo the militants’ most ghastly crime – the siege of the school in Beslan, in 2004, where an Orthodox Christian area was targeted and more than 300 people died, most of them children.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 24 June 2024
Motz, a forensic psychotherapist, presents the stories of ten patients, managing the conflict between her feminist beliefs and the ghastly facts of the women’s crimes.
—The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for ghastly 
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 1 July 2024
Dracula was inspired by an Irish cholera epidemic Bram Stoker’s mother survived a terrible cholera outbreak and recounted the ghastly scenes to her son years later.
—Big Think, 24 June 2024
The attacks on Christians in Dagestan on Sunday echo the militants’ most ghastly crime – the siege of the school in Beslan, in 2004, where an Orthodox Christian area was targeted and more than 300 people died, most of them children.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 24 June 2024
Motz, a forensic psychotherapist, presents the stories of ten patients, managing the conflict between her feminist beliefs and the ghastly facts of the women’s crimes.
—The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for ghastly
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ghastly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ghastly
Cite this Entry
“Ghastly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghastly. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ghastly
adjective
ghast·ly
ˈgast-lē 
ghastlier; ghastliest
1
a
: horrible sense 1, shocking
a ghastly crime
b
: very unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable
2
: resembling a ghost
a ghastly face
ghastliness
noun
ghastly
adverb
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