helter-skelter

[ hel-ter-skel-ter ]
See synonyms for: helter-skelterhelter-skelters on Thesaurus.com

adverb
  1. in headlong and disorderly haste: The children ran helter-skelter all over the house.

  2. in a haphazard manner; without regard for order: Clothes were scattered helter-skelter about the room.

adjective
  1. carelessly hurried; confused: They ran in a mad, helter-skelter fashion for the exits.

  2. disorderly; haphazard: Books and papers were scattered on the desk in a helter-skelter manner.

noun
  1. tumultuous disorder; confusion.

Origin of helter-skelter

1
First recorded in 1585–95; rhyming compound, perhaps based on unattested skelt, Middle English skelten “to hasten”; further origin unknown); reduplication with initial h parallel to hubble-bubble, higgledy-piggledy, etc.

Words Nearby helter-skelter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use helter-skelter in a sentence

  • helter-skelter the men rushed out, Tony and his mates in front.

    Colonial Born | G. Firth Scott
  • But it is not only a matter of reaching a systematic instead of a helter-skelter enjoyment of 116 the offerings of the world.

    The Women of Tomorrow | William Hard

British Dictionary definitions for helter-skelter

helter-skelter

/ (ˈhɛltəˈskɛltə) /


adjective
  1. haphazard or carelessly hurried

adverb
  1. in a helter-skelter manner

noun
  1. British a high spiral slide, as at a fairground

  2. disorder or haste

Origin of helter-skelter

1
C16: probably of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012