An archaic noun meaning the quality or state of being full of horror, terror, or ghastliness.
From ghastful plus the suffix -ness to form an abstract noun. This archaic formation demonstrates how English creates abstract nouns from adjectives, though the base adjective (ghastful) is no longer in common use.
This word represents a complete word-formation chain from a single root: ghast → ghastful → ghastfulness, showing how English could infinitely extend concepts, yet most of these links have broken in modern usage.
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