ghostly

English

Etymology

From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), equivalent to ghost +‎ -ly. Cognate with Scots gostly, gastly, gaistlie (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡoʊstli/
Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

ghostly (comparative ghostlier, superlative ghostliest)

Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
a ghostly figure with a hood
The graveyard was haunted by a ghostly figure of a young girl.
The ghostly moaning was heard from upstairs.
Spooky; frightening.
- A ghostly hush fell.
Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.
a ghostly confessor
- Book of Common Prayer
  Save and defend us from our ghostly enemies.
- Jeremy Taylor
  one of the ghostly children of St. Jerome

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:ghostly

Translations

pertaining to ghosts

Bengali: ভৌতিক (bhoutik)
Bulgarian: призрачен (bg) (prizračen)
Estonian: tontlik
Finnish: aavemainen (fi)
French: fantomatique (fr)
Greek: πνευματικός (el) m (pnevmatikós), άυλος (el) m (áylos)
Hungarian: kísérteties (hu)
Irish: taibhsiúil

Italian: spettrale, fantasmatico, spiritico
Korean: 유령의 (yuryeong-ui)
Polish: widmowy, zmorowaty
Portuguese: fantasmagórico
Russian: при́зрачный (ru) (prízračnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: taibhseil
Spanish: fantasmal

spooky, frightening

Bulgarian: плашещ (bg) (plašešt), призрачен (bg) (prizračen)
Greek: στοιχειωμένος (el) m (stoicheioménos)
Irish: taibhsiúil

Portuguese: fantasmagórico
Scottish Gaelic: taibhseil