1 : in undue haste, confusion, or disorder ran helter-skelter, getting in each other’s way— F. V. W. Mason. 2 : in a haphazard manner. helter-skelter. noun. Definition of helter-skelter (Entry 2 of 3)

Going back even further, this term comes from a word used to describe “disorderly haste or confusion” and was first coined in the 1500s. Helter and skelter mean nothing apart from one another, but put together they simply mean “chaos.”