Ghastliest

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ghastly \Ghast"ly\, a. [Compar. {Ghastlier}; superl.
     {Ghastliest}.] [OE. gastlich, gastli, fearful, causing fear,
     fr. gasten to terrify, AS. g[ae]stan. Cf. {Aghast}, {Gast},
     {Gaze}, {Ghostly}.]
     1. Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid;
        dismal.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Each turned his face with a ghastly pang.
                                                    --Coleridge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be
              recognized.                           --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Horrible; shocking; dreadful; hideous.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ghastliest
       See {ghastly}

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ghastly
       adj 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" [syn: {grim}, {grisly}, {gruesome},
               {macabre}]
       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" [syn: {charnel}, {sepulchral}]
       [also: {ghastliest}, {ghastlier}]