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Aghast vs Ghastly - What's the difference?

aghast | ghastly |

As adjectives the difference between aghast and ghastly

is that aghast is terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror while ghastly is like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid; dismal.

As an adverb ghastly is

in a ghastly manner.

aghast

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror.
  • * 1902 , The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.
    • And while the revellers stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or, it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that they should put the hounds upon her.
  • * 1985 , Les Misérables , the song "Red and Black"
    • I am agog! I am aghast ! Is Marius in love at last?
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, Rickie Lambert's debut goal gives England victory over Scotland'' (in ''The Guardian , 14 August 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/14/england-scotland-international-friendly]
    • Hart, for one, will not remember the night for Lambert's heroics. Morrison, not closed down quickly enough, struck his shot well but England's No1 will be aghast at the way it struck his gloves then skidded off his knees and into the net.

    Anagrams

    *

    ghastly

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; pallid; dismal.
  • *(Samuel Taylor Coleridge) (1772-1834)
  • *:Each turned his face with a ghastly pang.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • *:His face was so ghastly that it could scarcely be recognized.
  • Horrifyingly shocking.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
  • Extremely bad.
  • :

    • Synonyms

    * lurid

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a ghastly manner.
    • He turned ghastly pale on hearing the news.