helter-skelter

American  

[hel-ter-skel-ter] / ˈhɛl tərˈskɛl tər /

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.

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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.

helter-skelter British  

/ ˈhɛltəˈskɛltə /

adjective

1. haphazard or carelessly hurried

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adverb

1. in a helter-skelter manner

noun

1. a high spiral slide, as at a fairground

2. 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.

Example Sentences

The pitch was the catalyst for the helter-skelter action.

From BBC

If England's crushing defeat in the first Test was a white-knuckle helter-skelter, this opening day in Brisbane was a titanic struggle and not for the faint-hearted.

From BBC

It was a little more of a helter-skelter approach, but we somehow got through it.

From Los Angeles Times

England captain Ben Stokes checked India's progress after Harry Brook's breathtaking 99 on a helter-skelter third day of the first Test at Headingley.

From BBC

This was a helter-skelter day, the breathless cricket picking up from the previous time these sides met on this ground - New Zealand's classic one-run victory at the beginning of last year.

From BBC

Related Words

• chaotic
• haphazard
• hurried