helter-skelter
Americanadverb
-
in headlong and disorderly haste.
The children ran helter-skelter all over the house.
-
in a haphazard manner; without regard for order.
Clothes were scattered helter-skelter about the room.
adjective
-
carelessly hurried; confused.
They ran in a mad, helter-skelter fashion for the exits.
-
Books and papers were scattered on the desk in a helter-skelter manner.
noun
adjective
adverb
noun
-
a high spiral slide, as at a fairground
-
disorder or haste
Etymology
Origin of helter-skelter
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.
Explanation
Helter-skelter things are disorganized, hasty, and appear completely random. Your helter-skelter housekeeping style will definitely not impress your tidy grandmother when she comes to visit. You can use helter-skelter as an adjective, to describe something disorderly, or an adverb for things that are done haphazardly: "The little car, packed full of clowns, took off helter-skelter down the street." This word has been around since the 16th century, from the Middle English skelte, "to scatter hurriedly." The Beatles made it famous when they named a song "Helter Skelter" on the 1968 record popularly called The White Album.
Vocabulary lists containing helter-skelter
Tuck Everlasting
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The Hobbit
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Fever 1793
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The shale companies’ tepid reaction to the jump in crude prices is further proof that firms once known to grow helter-skelter have become disciplined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Challambra Hill climb before the final helter-skelter dash to the finish.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
In the contemporary, helter-skelter sweep of Mexico City, there is one place — in the southern borough of Xochimilco — where a vision of a watery, pre-Columbian capital may still be imagined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
That helter-skelter transition threw much of the economics of entertainment out of whack.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
It was a good deal more complicated than the helter-skelter fort.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
