ghastly
1. [ adjective ] shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
Synonyms: grim gruesome macabre grisly
Examples:

"ghastly wounds" "the grim aftermath of the bombing" "the grim task of burying the victims" "a grisly murder" "gruesome evidence of human sacrifice" "macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle ages"

Related terms: alarming
2. [ adjective ] gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
Synonyms: sepulchral charnel
Examples:

"a charnel smell came from the chest filled with dead men's bones" "ghastly shrieks" "the sepulchral darkness of the catacombs"

Related terms: offensive
Similar spelling:   ghostly
  ghostlike