ghastly

/ˈɡɑːs(t).li/adjective

Looking pale and frightening like a ghost; shockingly unpleasant or dreadful.

Example sentence

“After the long illness, his face had a ghastly, gray look.”

British speakers use it casually for anything awful: ghastly weather, a ghastly mistake. Formed from 'ghast', the same root as 'aghast'.

Related words

gigabyteA unit of computer data equal to one billion bytes, or 1,000 megabytes.geyserA natural hot spring that regularly shoots columns of steam and boiling water into the air.gingerlyDone with great care and caution, as if afraid of causing harm.germinateTo start growing from a seed, sending out the first roots and shoots.giveawayAn item that is handed out free of charge.germA tiny living thing, such as a bacterium or virus, that can cause illness.