Dictionary

helter-skelter en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.

Meanings

1. Carelessly hurried and confused.
   • Although his existential thoughts seem to have been tossed onto the page in helter-skelter fashion, what Gilboa does here is to open his mind and heart to the reader through verbal jaggedness and poetic unneatness. 1994, Warren Bargad, "To Write the Lips of Sleepers": The Poetry of Amir Gilboa, page 232:
   • After World War II, from 1945 until the early 1960s, the helter-skelter growth of the reprint industry went largely unheeded by the general publishing industry, then under its own mounting pressures to publish new works for a growing reading public and ever-larger numbers of educational institutions. 1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 7:

Forms

Relateds

pell-mell · willy-nilly

Translations (8)

bg объркан (Carelessly hurried and confused) · pl bezładny (Carelessly hurried and confused) · pdt droslich (Carelessly hurried and confused) · cs chaotický (Carelessly hurried and confused) · de holterdiepolter (Carelessly hurried and confused) · cs překotný (Carelessly hurried and confused) · gd amasgaidh (Carelessly hurried and confused) · cs zmatený (Carelessly hurried and confused)

helter-skelter en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.

Meanings

1. In confused, disorderly haste.
   • Pellets, once released from the funnel, would bounce helter-skelter, left or right, against the pins […] to ultimately gather in the lower compartments in a pile which resembles a normal curve. 1998, Deborah J. Bennett, Randomness, Harvard University Press, page 104:
   • But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter-skelter in a broiling sun. 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter II, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 21:
   • The winds knocked huge trees helter-skelter all over my garden.

Forms

Translations (21)

hu hebehurgyán (in confused, disorderly haste) · ja めちゃめちゃ (in confused, disorderly haste) · hu hanyatt-homlok (in confused, disorderly haste) · cs chaoticky (in confused, disorderly haste) · pt a trouxe-mouxe (in confused, disorderly haste) · bg без ред (in confused, disorderly haste) · cs hlava nehlava (in confused, disorderly haste) · gd uathrais air thairis (in confused, disorderly haste) · dag balibali (in confused, disorderly haste) · bg объркано (in confused, disorderly haste) · nl holderdebolder (in confused, disorderly haste) · pl bezładnie (in confused, disorderly haste) · da hulter til bulter (in confused, disorderly haste) · de Hals über Kopf (in confused, disorderly haste) · pl na łeb, na szyję (in confused, disorderly haste) · cs zmateně (in confused, disorderly haste) · cs horempádem (in confused, disorderly haste) · gd amasgaidh (in confused, disorderly haste) · de holterdiepolter (in confused, disorderly haste) · hu nyakra-főre (in confused, disorderly haste) · ta துண்டைக் காணோம் துணியைக் காணோம் என்று (in confused, disorderly haste)

helter-skelter en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Confusion or turmoil.
   • ‘I hardly know, — I imagine that it was with some dim idea of Marjorie’s being able to get in if she returned while I was absent, — but the truth is I was in such a condition of helter skelter that I am not prepared to swear that I had any reasonable reason.’ 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
   • (Oh, oh, oh) / I'm looking for some shelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / From the helter-skelter / (Oh, oh, oh) / Just keep me away from / All who conspire / (Enemy fire...) 2014, busbee, Meghan Kabir, “Enemy Fire”, in Young Blood, performed by Bea Miller:
2. (UK, countable, uncountable) An amusement ride consisting of a slide that spirals down around the exterior of a tapering central tower, most commonly modeled after lighthouses.
   • For gentler sliding fun, you can take a ride on the helter-skelter. 2015, Louise Spilsbury, Ride that Rollercoaster!, page 12:
   • He is finishing, this week, a remarkable thing called a helter skelter: This is a circular building 50 feet high which people climb, by means of an interior winding stair. At the top they each take a seat in a semicircular wooden trough which curls around the outside of the house, gradually leading towards the ground with a terrific rush, they slide down this and are rapidly delivered on to the grass below. 1905 September 30, The Independent, Footscray, Vic, page 2, column 4:
   • When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop, and I turn, and I go for a ride 'Till I get to the bottom, and I see you again [...] Well, look out, helter-skelter She's coming down fast Coming down fast on the helter-skelter, woo 1968, Lennon–McCartney, “Helter Skelter”, in The White Album, performed by The Beatles:

Forms

Synonyms

helter-skelter lighthouse

Translations (6)

uk спіра́льна гі́рка (amusement ride) · cs tobogan (amusement ride) · cs zmatek (confusion or turmoil) · gd giorna-giùirne (confusion or turmoil) · bg безпорядък (confusion or turmoil) · bg суматоха (confusion or turmoil)