ghastly meaning and definition

GHASTLY adjective

Definition of ghastly (adjective)

1. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
   • "ghastly wounds"; "the grim aftermath of the bombing"; "the grim task of burying the victims"; "a grisly murder"; "gruesome evidence of human sacrifice"; "macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages"; "macabre tortures conceived by madmen"
   • synonyms: grim, grisly, gruesome, macabre, sick
2. gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
   • "a charnel smell came from the chest filled with dead men's bones"; "ghastly shrieks"; "the sepulchral darkness of the catacombs"
   • synonyms: charnel, sepulchral