helter-skelter
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helter-skelter
- /ˌhɛltɚˈskɛltɚ/ US
- /ˌhɛltəˈskɛltə/ UK
Rhymes with -ɛltə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
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.
adverb more helter-skelter · most helter-skelter
- In confused, disorderly haste. The winds knocked huge trees helter-skelter all over my garden.
adjective more helter-skelter · most helter-skelter
- Carelessly hurried and confused. 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
noun helter-skelters
- 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.’
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An amusement ride consisting of a slide that spirals down around the exterior of a tapering central tower, most commonly modeled after lighthouses.
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
Similar: helter-skelter lighthouse
Translations
Every language
adv in confused, disorderly haste
| 日本語 | めちゃめちゃ mechamecha |
|---|---|
| Português | a trouxe-mouxe |
| Deutsch | holterdiepolter, Hals über Kopf |
adj Carelessly hurried and confused
| Deutsch | holterdiepolter |
|---|
Talk about this word "helter-skelter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/helter-skelter. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. helter-skelter. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/helter-skelter "helter-skelter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/helter-skelter.Cite this
@misc{helter_skelter_2026,
title = {helter-skelter},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/helter-skelter},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
