helter-skelter

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hel·ter-skel·ter

(hĕl′tər-skĕl′tər)

adv.

1. In disorderly haste; confusedly; pell-mell.

2. Haphazardly.

adj.

1. Carelessly hurried and confused.

2. Haphazard.

Turmoil; confusion.

[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

helter-skelter

(ˈhɛltəˈskɛltə)

adj

haphazard or carelessly hurried

adv

in a helter-skelter manner

1. Brit a high spiral slide, as at a fairground

2. disorder or haste

[C16: probably of imitative origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hel•ter-skel•ter

(ˈhɛl tərˈskɛl tər)

adv.

1. in headlong and disorderly haste.

2. in a haphazard manner; without regard for order: clothes scattered helter-skelter.

adj.

3. carelessly hurried.

4. disorderly; haphazard.

5. tumultuous disorder; confusion.

[1585–95; rhyming compound, perhaps based on *skelt, Middle English skelten to hasten]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	helter-skelter - lacking a visible order or organization chaotic disorganised, disorganized - lacking order or methodical arrangement or function; "a disorganized enterprise"; "a thousand pages of muddy and disorganized prose"; "she was too disorganized to be an agreeable roommate"
	2.	helter-skelter - with undue hurry and confusion; "a helter-skelter kind of existence with never a pause"; "a pell-mell dash for the train" pell-mell hurried - moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste; "a hurried trip to the store"; "the hurried life of a city"; "a hurried job"
Adv.	1.	helter-skelter - haphazardly; "the books were piled up helter-skelter" every which way

helter-skelter

adjective

1. haphazard, confused, disordered, random, muddled, jumbled, topsy-turvy, hit-or-miss, higgledy-piggledy (informal) another crisis in his helter-skelter existence

adverb

1. wildly, rashly, anyhow, headlong, recklessly, carelessly, pell-mell a panic-stricken crowd running helter-skelter

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

helter-skelter

adjective

Characterized by physical confusion:

chaotic, confused, disordered, higgledy-piggledy, topsy-turvy, upside-down.

Informal: mixed-up.

noun

An interruption of regular procedure or of public peace:

agitation, commotion, disorder, disturbance, stir, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, uproar.

Informal: flap, to-do.

Translations

helter-skelter

[ˈheltəˈskeltəʳ]

A. ADV (= in a rush) → atropelladamente; (= in confusion) → a la desbandada

B. N

1. (Brit) (at fair) → tobogán m

2. (= rush) → desbandada f general

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

helter-skelter

[ˌhɛltə^rˈskɛltə^r]

n (British) (at amusement park) → toboggan m

adj (= chaotic) [existence] → désordonné(e)

adv [run] → pêle-mêle

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

helter-skelter

adj → wild; account → chaotisch; the last minute helter-skelter rush for the bus → die wilde Hetze in letzter Minute, um den Bus zu erwischen

adv run, rush → Hals über Kopf (inf)

(Brit, in fairground) → spiralförmige Rutschbahn

(= disorder) → wildes Durcheinander; (= haste) → wilde Hetze

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

helter-skelter

[ˈhɛltəˈskɛltəʳ]

1. adv → in fretta e furia, in quattro e quattr'otto

2. n (Brit) (in funfair) → scivolo (a spirale)

helter-skelter

(ˈheltəˈskeltə) adverb

in great hurry and confusion.

References in classic literature ?

'Yes, to be sure--Who won the Helter-Skelter Plate, child?'

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Montgomery cracked his whip at them, and forthwith they all turned and fled helter-skelter into the trees; and when Montgomery and Moreau were at a distance I judged sufficient, I waded ashore, and picked up and examined the revolvers.

View in context

Away they run, pell-mell, helter-skelter, slap-dash: tearing, yelling, screaming, knocking down the passengers as they turn the corners, rousing up the dogs, and astonishing the fowls: and streets, squares, and courts, re-echo with the sound.

View in context

This last had begun and ended in the same minute; in another we were at the starboard gangway, tumbling helter-skelter aboard the lowered long-boat.

View in context

At the same instant, with a cry like a wail, first one hound, then another, and then another, sprang helter-skelter from the wood opposite and the whole pack rushed across the field toward the very spot where the wolf had disappeared.

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It was put together in a casual, helter-skelter sort of way.

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I poked again and said, "A little faster," then off he went, helter-skelter as before, and we resigned ourselves to our fate.

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Guardsmen, officers, courtiers, servants, and slaves ran helter-skelter through the corridors and apartments carrying messages and orders, and searching for signs of the assassin.

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In this way, the savage chivalry of the village to the number of five hundred, poured forth, helter-skelter, riding and running, with hideous yells and war-whoops, like so many bedlamites or demoniacs let loose.

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They were panic-stricken, and it took all the brutal authority of the Arabs to keep the Manyuema from rushing helter-skelter into the jungle--anywhere to escape from this terrible village.

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** The cost of advertising was amazing in those helter-skelter times.

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The whole crew were half suffocated as they were tossed helter-skelter into the white curdling cream of the squall.