different between phantom vs ghastly

English

Alternative forms

• fantom (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English fantom, fantum, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from ??????? (phantáz?, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fænt?m/

Noun

phantom (plural phantoms)

1. A ghost or apparition.
2. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; an image that appears only in the mind; an illusion or delusion.
3. (bridge) A placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.
4. (medical imaging) A test object. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• ghost
• See also Thesaurus:ghost

Derived terms

• phantom limb
• phantom pain

Related terms

• fantasy

Translations

Adjective

phantom (not comparable)

1. Illusive.
2. Fictitious or nonexistent.

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “phantom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Hampton

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?"