Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb In disorderly haste; confusedly; pell-mell.
- adverb Haphazardly.
- adjective Carelessly hurried and confused.
- adjective Haphazard.
- noun Turmoil; confusion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- With confused haste or commotion; in a disorderly hurry; confusedly.
- Confused; disorderly; carelessly hurried.
- noun Confused movement or action; disorderly hurry or bustle; confusion.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb colloq. In hurry and confusion; without definite purpose; irregularly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In
confused ,disorderly haste - adjective
Carelessly hurried andconfused - noun
confusion orturmoil - noun UK A
helical fairground slide
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb haphazardly
- adjective lacking a visible order or organization
- adjective with undue hurry and confusion
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Another sign of the stunning turnaround: U.S. Treasurys, which had been a helter-skelter destination for safety-seeking investors, have seen prices collapse.
Stock Surge Has Its Skeptics Tom Lauricella 2011
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Given the pace of cultural change in the helter-skelter postwar boom, it would be an incongruously long reign.
Splatter-Day Saints 2010
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The projected video feed of its crazed, helter-skelter movements delivers the sickening effect of a fairground ride.
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On the helter-skelter main roads in these villages and towns we pass by tiendas offering everything from toothpaste to tomatoes or a farmacia where you can purchase drugs that don't require taking out a bank loan, although it might be useful to check their expiry dates.
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The pitch was hardly pristine and Ireland had to acclimatise quickly during frenetic opening exchanges, when the pace and helter-skelter action gave the occasion a real cup tie feel.
Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland | Euro 2012 play-off match report 2011
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The Revolution Business looks like the original painting had an interesting composition, but then the text is plopped over it helter-skelter, creating an over-all impression of just chaos.
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We don't want the kind of world we'll get if we allow global climate change, resource conflicts, resource constraints, environmental degradation, overwhelming population growth, helter-skelter urbanization, war, social injustice and other looming problems to go unaddressed.
William S. Becker: Let's Talk About the Future We Want William S. Becker 2011
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Neither of those current stereotypes survived this extraordinary match, a helter-skelter ride of fine goals and head-clutching errors – and that is to take into account only the individual contributions of Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres, both of whom touched the heights of the sublime and the depths of the gor-blimey.
Fernando Torres revived before demons return in Theatre of the Absurd | Richard Williams 2011
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We don't want the kind of world we'll get if we allow global climate change, resource conflicts, resource constraints, environmental degradation, overwhelming population growth, helter-skelter urbanization, war, social injustice and other looming problems to go unaddressed.
William S. Becker: Let's Talk About the Future We Want William S. Becker 2011
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It was like climbing the wrong way up a helter-skelter; we got to the top and stood on the parapet waiting to jump.
bilby commented on the word helter-skelter
"Everything is prepared from fresh. When it is ready, the meal is put in a pot and given a sticker and a colour to match the customer's seat.
Then it is put on the rails and despatched downhill to the correct table. Manna from heaven, German-style.
The restaurant is the brainchild of local businessman Michael Mack.
"I wanted to come up with a complete new restaurant system," Michael tells me, "one that would be more efficient and more comfortable".
Replacing waiters with helter-skelters and computers is fun for the customers. It also makes financial sense for the restaurant."
- ' Fast food, German-style ', Steve Rosenberg for BBC News, 8 April 2008.
April 9, 2008
reesetee commented on the word helter-skelter
Scary, in an oddly fascinating way.
April 9, 2008
bilby commented on the word helter-skelter
First time I have ever seen helter-skelter as a noun and it's a Kraut dumbwaiter?
April 9, 2008
yarb commented on the word helter-skelter
The whole crew were half suffocated as they were tossed helter-skelter into the white curdling cream of the squall.
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 48
July 25, 2008