helter-skelter

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: hel=ter-skel=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

helter-skelter, adv. [An onomatpoetic word. Cf. G. holter-polter, D. holder de bolder.].

 In hurry and confusion; without definite purpose; irregularly.  [1913 Webster]
"Helter-skelter have I rode to thee."  [1913 Webster]
"A wistaria vine running helter-skelter across the roof."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

helter-skelter, adv., adj., & n.
--adv. & adj. in disorderly haste.
--n. Brit. a tall spiral slide round a tower, at a fairground or funfair.

Etymology

imit., orig. in a rhyming jingle, perh. f. ME skelte hasten

ROGET THESAURUS

helter-skelter

Disorder

N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.

Haste

N haste, urgency, despatch, dispatch, acceleration, spurt, spirt, forced march, rush, dash, speed, velocity, precipitancy, precipitation, precipitousness, impetuosity, brusquerie, hurry, drive, scramble, bustle, fuss, fidget, flurry, flutter, splutter, hasty, hurried, brusque, scrambling, cursory, precipitate, headlong, furious, boisterous, impetuous, hotheaded, feverish, fussy, pushing, in haste, in a hurry, in hot haste, in all haste, breathless, pressed for time, hard pressed, urgent, with haste, with all haste, with breathless speed, in haste, apace, amain, all at once, at short notice, immediately, posthaste, by cable, by express, by telegraph, by forced marches, hastily, precipitately, helter-skelter, hurry-skurry, holus-bolus, slapdash, slap-bang, full-tilt, full drive, heels over head, head and shoulders, headlong, a corps perdu, by fits and starts, by spurts, hop skip and jump, sauve qui peut, every man for himself, devil take the hindmost, no time to be lost, no sooner said than done, a word and a blow, haste makes waste, maggiore fretta minore atto, ohne Hast aber ohne Rast stand not upon the order, swift, swift, you dragons of the night.