ghastful

English

Alternative forms

• gastful, gashful

Etymology

From Middle English gastful, equivalent to ghast +‎ -ful. See ghastly.

Adjective

ghastful (comparative more ghastful, superlative most ghastful)

1. (archaic) Causing fear; terrifying.
   • 1922, E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros:

     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.

2. (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

• ghastfully
• ghastfulness

References

• “ghastful”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.