different between colossal vs ghastly

English

Etymology

From French colossal, formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kolossós, “giant statue”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??l?s?l/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Adjective

colossal (comparative more colossal, superlative most colossal)

1. Extremely large or on a great scale.
2. Amazingly spectacular; extraordinary; epic.

Synonyms

• (extremely large): enormous, giant, gigantic, immense, prodigious, vast
• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Related terms

• colosseum
• colossus

Translations

Anagrams

• alcosols

French

Etymology

Formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kolossós) (originally used by Herodotus in reference to statues in ancient Egyptian temples).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?.l?.sal/

Adjective

colossal (feminine singular colossale, masculine plural colossaux, feminine plural colossales)

1. colossal, huge

Derived terms

• calmar colossal

Further reading

• “colossal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Etymology

From colosso +? -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?ko.lo.?saw/

Adjective

colossal m or f (plural colossais, comparable)

1. colossal (extremely large)

   Synonyms: gigante, enorme

English

Etymology

From a conflation of a derivation of Old English g?stan (“to torment, frighten”) with the suffix -lic, and ghostly (which was also spelt "gastlich" in Middle English). Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with 'gh' developed 16th century due to the conflation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /????s(t).li/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??æs(t).li/

Adjective

ghastly (comparative ghastlier, superlative ghastliest)

1. Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

     Each turned his face with a ghastly pang.
2. Horrifyingly shocking.
3. Extremely bad.

Synonyms

• (sickly pale): See also Thesaurus:pallid
• (horrifyingly shocking): lurid

Translations

Adverb

ghastly (not comparable)

1. In a ghastly manner.
   • 1921, William Dudley Pelley, The Fog: A Novel, page 196:

     Johnathan's lips moved ghastly before his voice would come. "So I'm crazy, am I? And if I choose to murder you, what would you do?"