ghastly
/ˈɡæs(t).li/adjective, adverb
ghastly is spelled G-H-A-S-T-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ghastly means “Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ghastly?
| Letters | 7: G-H-A-S-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,420th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ghastly?
Ghastly appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ghastly?
- UK /ˈɡɑːs(t).li/
- /ˈɡas(t).li/
- US /ˈɡæs(t).li/
Ghastly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ghastly.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-ghastly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ghastly
- ghastlier comparative
- ghastliest superlative
- more ghastly comparative
- most ghastly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ghastly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
- 2
Horrifyingly shocking.
- 3
colloquialdatedExtremely bad.
The play was simply ghastly.
adverb
- 1
In a ghastly manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ghastly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | blafard, livide , épouvantable, effrayant, atroce , affreux |
| German | geisterhaft , grässlich, gespenstisch, haarsträubend , schauderhaft, furchtbar |
| Spanish | fantasmal, cadavérico, cadaveroso (disused) , espantoso, horripilante, horrible |
| Portuguese | assustador, horripilante, medonho |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ghastly come from?
From a conflation of gastly, from Middle English gastly, from gasten (from Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”)) + -ly, and ghostly (which was also spelt gastlich in Middle English). Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with gh developed in the 16th century due to the conflation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).