I. ˈgastlē, ˈgaas-, ˈgais-, ˈgȧs-, -li adjective
( usually -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English gastly, from Old English gāastlīc spiritual — more at ghostly
1. : giving rise to terror : frightening , terrifying
along the parapet rose great pyramids of German helmets, empty, ghastly , like … heaps of skulls — Louis Bromfield
2. : resembling or suggestive of a ghost : deathlike , pale , wan
his face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be recognized — T.B.Macaulay
her eyes are lighted up with a smile so ghastly that people quake as they look at her — W.M.Thackeray
3. obsolete : filled with fear : terrified
in great haste and fear with ghastly … looks — Thomas Herbert
4. : intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable : terrible — often used as a generalized expression of disapproval
such a life seems ghastly in its emptiness and sterility — Aldous Huxley
engaged in the ghastly job of revising the curriculum — H.J.Laski
5. : very great — used as an intensive
the whole business is a ghastly mistake — D.B.Chidsey
the ghastly waste of time that we indulge in — J.C.Powys
II. adverb
: in a ghastly manner
her face was ghastly pale — Washington Irving