ghostly

Definition

Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.

Etymology

From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaistalīk (“spiritual”), equivalent to ghost + -ly. Cognate with Scots ghaistly, gaistly (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).

Example Sentences

• "a ghostly figure with a hood"
• "The graveyard was haunted by a ghostly figure of a young girl."
• "The ghostly moaning was heard from upstairs."

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