ghastly
adjective
shockingly frightful or dreadful; horrible.
ghastliness
-
a word derived from
ghastly.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Call it kitsch or outright ghastliness, but it’s all in defiance of a simple, stubborn truth: Death cannot be overcome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The goal is to diminish the ghastliness of Good’s death, and with it, the value of her life.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2026
Shostakovich takes Katerina’s side in this ghastliness, pushing his opera beyond the bounds of theatrical convention to make a point about amoral responses to amorality.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
Yet even with the grimness and ghastliness of war, gestures of hope and kindness are shining brightly for refugees who are crossing the border into these countries.
From Fox News ● Mar. 7, 2022
For my seventeen-year-old brother, romance was an entirely new experience and a wonderful diversion from the ghastliness of ghetto life.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
