different between ghastly vs beastly

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?"

English

Etymology

From Middle English beestly, bestely, beastelich, equivalent to beast +? -ly. Compare West Frisian bistachtich (“beastly”), Dutch beestachtig (“beastly”), German biestig (“beastly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bi?stli/
• Rhymes: -i?stli

Adjective

beastly (comparative beastlier or more beastly, superlative beastliest or most beastly)

1. (Britain) Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.
2. (Britain) Similar to the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man

   Synonyms: brutal, filthy

3. (Britain, dated) Abominable.

4. (of computing hardware) Powerful, having a powerful appearance
   • 2010, January 11, Matthew DeCarlo, “Silverstone mini-ITX case can fit Radeon HD 5970”, TechSpot:

     In addition to a Core i7-860 with a full-sized heatsink and 4GB of DDR3 RAM, the company showed its SUGO SG07 housing today's most beastly graphics card, the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970, which is about 30cm long.

   • 2014, March 21, Tycho de Feijter, “Hummer H2 is a Big Black Beast in the Rain in China”, CarNewsChina.com:

     A very big, very black, and very beastly Hummer H2, Spotted in China in in the rain the great city of Zigong in Sichuan Province.

   • 2018, October 16, Chris Smith, “Huawei just unveiled the most beastly Android phone the world has ever seen”, BGR:

     Huawei’s Mate 20 phones have instantly become the best iPhone XS rivals out there, at least on paper, and the high-end model is easily the most beastly Android phone the world has seen so far.

Usage notes

Most often used pejoratively, but sense 4 has predominantly positive connotations. Bestial is more narrow, though also often used pejoratively.

Synonyms

• (like a beast): bestial, animalian

Derived terms

• beastliness

Translations

Adverb

beastly (comparative more beastly, superlative most beastly)

1. Like a beast; brutishly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.8:

     Beastly he threwe her downe, ne car'd to spill / Her garments gay with scales of fish that all did fill.

   • 1901, The Literary World - Volume 63 - Page 35:

     They have insulted me most beastly. Moreover, they are, everyone of them, black-satan filthmen.

Anagrams

• baetyls