pale as a ghost
Drained of color
Pale as a ghost describes someone whose face has gone white from shock, fear, illness, or strong emotion.
The comparison invokes the bloodless pallor of spectral apparitions: When she heard the news, she went pale as a ghost.
The phrase is common enough to be cliché, sometimes shortened to just white as a ghost.
- ashenPale, grayish-white
- wanPale and unwell-looking
- whiteAbsence of pigment
- white as snowExtremely pale comparison
- scared stiffImmobilized by extreme fright
scared to death · horrified · spectral · pasty · shocked · terrified · shaking like a leaf · cold sweat · waxen · colorless · cadaverous · death warmed over · blanched · bloodless · sickly · white as a sheet · ethereal · panicked
- appearance idiomsall dolled up, dolled up, done up, dressed to kill, dressed to the nines
pale as a ghostflushed
Reddened from emotion
ruddy · rosy-cheeked · red-faced · florid · glowing
pale as a ghostvibrant
Full of life, intensity
hale and hearty · full of life · radiant · robust · in the pink
pale, paler, palest, paleness, palely, pallid, pallor, ghost, ghosts