English

Adjective

ghastly ‎(comparative ghastlier, superlative ghastliest)

1. Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
   • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

     Each turned his face with a ghastly pang.

   • Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859)

     His face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be recognized.

2. Horrifyingly shocking.
   • John Milton (1608-1674)

     Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.

   • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:

     They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.

3. Extremely bad.

   The play was simply ghastly.‎

Synonyms

• (sickly pale): See also Wikisaurus:pallid
• (horrifyingly shocking): lurid

Translations

Adverb

ghastly ‎(not comparable)

1. In a ghastly manner.

   He turned ghastly pale on hearing the news.