ghastful
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English gastful, equivalent to ghast + -ful. See ghastly.
Adjective
ghastful (comparative more ghastful, superlative most ghastful)
- (archaic) Causing fear; terrifying.
- 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, chapter 174, in The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC:
- Very desolate was that valley, having a dark aspect and a ghastful, such as a man might look for in the infernal glens of Pyriphlegethon or Acheron.
- (archaic) Terrified, frightened.
- 1716, Samuel Wesley, The history of the Old and New Testament attempted in verse, page 13:
- Th' Almighty anſwers — "I my ſelf will place
"The dreadful Stains of Murther on the Face,
"That all may ſhun thy Crimes and Fate. — He ſaid,
The Caitiff heard, with ghaſtful Looks he fled.
Derived terms
References
- “ghastful”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.