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deathly

/ˈdɛθli/
/ˈdɛθli/
IPA guide

Something that's deathly reminds you of death. If you dress up as a ghost for Halloween, the makeup on your cheeks might turn your face a deathy shade of gray.

A spooky silence can be described as deathly silent, and an unhealthy skin color is often called a deathly pallor. When you shiver, your friend might take your hand and say, "You have a deathly chill." An older meaning of deathly, used especially in literature, was "causing death." The Old English root word is deaþlic, "mortal."

Definitions of deathly
  1. adjective
    having the physical appearance of death
    “a deathly pallor”
    synonyms: deathlike
    dead
    no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
  2. adjective
    causing or capable of causing death
    synonyms: deadly, mortal
    fatal
    bringing death
  3. adverb
    to a degree resembling death
    “he was deathly pale”
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