different between shadowy vs ghastly

English

Etymology

shadow +? -y

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??æd.o?.i/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??æd.??.i/
• Hyphenation: shad?owy

Adjective

shadowy (comparative shadowier, superlative shadowiest)

1. In shadow; darkened by shadows.

   He sat in a shadowy corner.

2. (of character) Dark, obscure.

   He was a shadowy man who rarely spoke.
3. (figuratively) Vague, dim, unclear, faint of an image.
4. (rare, dated) Indulging in fancies; daydreaming.

Translations

Anagrams

• show day

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?"