Synonyms for ghastly
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Like a ghost
spectral, wan, wraithlike, pallid, ashen, grim, deathlike, corpselike, funereal, cadaverous, ghostly, unearthly, weird, unnatural, supernatural, uncanny, grisly, gruesome, macabre.
Antonyms natural, real, substantial.
Terrifying
hideous, horrible, frightening; see frightful 1.
*Unpleasant
repulsive, disgusting, abhorrent; see offensive 2.
See ghastly in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms
ghastly grim gruesome grisly macabre lurid
These adjectives describe what is shockingly repellent in aspect or appearance. Ghastly applies to what inspires shock or horror because it suggests death: ghastly wounds.
Grim refers to what repels because of its stern or fierce aspect or its harsh, relentless nature: the grim task of burying the victims of the earthquake.
Gruesome and grisly describe what horrifies or revolts because of its appalling crudity or utter inhumanity: a gruesome murder; grisly jokes about cadavers.
Macabre suggests the horror of death and decay: macabre stories about a madman.
Lurid sometimes refers to an unnatural hue suggestive of death: The ill patient's skin took on a lurid pallor.
More often, the term describes what shocks because of its terrible and ghastly nature: lurid crimes.
At other times, it merely refers to glaring and usually unsavory sensationalism: a lurid account of the accident.
See ghastly in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
adjective
Shockingly repellent:
grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid, lurid, macabre. See beautifulCausing or able to cause fear:
appalling, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, redoubtable, scary, terrible, tremendous. See fearGruesomely suggestive of ghosts or death:
cadaverous, deadly, deathlike, deathly, ghostlike, ghostly, spectral. See liveVery bad:
appalling, awful, dreadful, fearful, frightful, horrendous, horrible, shocking, terrible. See good
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