pell–mell

1 acting or done with excessive or careless speed when the theater doors opened, there was a pell-mell rush for the best seats Synonyms cursory, drive-by, flying, gadarene, headlong, helter-skelter, hurried, overhasty, pell-mell, precipitate, precipitous, rash, rushedRelated Words breakneck, breathtaking; headstrong, heady, hotheaded, impatient, impetuous, impulsive, madcap, reckless, unadvised; quick, rapid, speedy, swift; horseback, impromptu, makeshift, offhand, offhanded, off-the-cuff, rush, slapdash, snap, spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment; abrupt, suddenNear Antonyms calculated, calculating, measured; circumspect, foresighted, forethoughtful; drawn-out, extended, long-term, prolonged; faltering, hesitant, hesitating, tentative; dallying, dawdling, laggard, leisurely, poky (or pokey), shilly-shallying, slowAntonyms deliberate, unhurried, unrushed

2 lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness pell-mell piles of books everywhere in the professor's library Synonyms chaotic, cluttered, confused, disarranged, disarrayed, disheveled (or dishevelled), disordered, disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger, jumbled, littered, messed, muddled, mussed, mussy, pell-mell, rumpled, sloppy, topsy-turvy, tousled, tumbled, unkempt, untidy, upside-downRelated Words bedraggled, befouled, begrimed, bemired, besmirched, blackened, cruddy, dingy, dirty, draggled, filthy, foul, grimy, grotty [chiefly British], grubby, grungy, mucky, nasty, smudged, soiled, spotted, squalid, stained, sullied, unclean, uncleanly; dowdy, frowsy (or frowzy), shaggy, slatternly, sloven, slovenly, uncombed; wrinkled; adulterated, contaminated, defiled, polluted, tainted; knotted, snarled, tangled; seedy, shabby, sleazy, sordid; neglected, neglectful, negligentNear Antonyms antiseptic, clean, cleaned, cleanly, hygienic, immaculate, sparkling, spick-and-span (or spic-and-span), spotless, stainless, unsoiled, unsullied; methodical (also methodic), regular, systematic, systematized; careful, fastidious, finicky, fussy, meticulous; combed, groomed, manicured, well-groomed; taintless, undefiled, unpolluted, untainted, wholesomeAntonyms bandbox, crisp, kempt, neat, neatened, ordered, orderly, organized, shipshape, snug, tidied, tidy, trim, uncluttered, well-ordered

1 in a confused and reckless manner tossed stuff pell-mell into the dorm room Synonyms amok (or amuck), berserk, berserkly, frantically, frenetically, frenziedly, harum-scarum, hectically, madly, pell-mell, wild, wildlyRelated Words agitatedly, confusedly, crazily, desperately, feverishly, haywire, skittishly, uncontrollably; heedlessly, hotheadedly, recklessly, wantonly; chaotically, riotously, tumultuously, turbulently; aimlessly, haphazard, haphazardly, hit-or-miss, topsy-turvyNear Antonyms calmly, collectedly, composedly, coolly (also cooly), imperturbably, peacefully, placidly, self-composedly, self-possessedly, serenely, unconcernedly; meekly, mildly, passively, tamely; methodically, orderly, systematically

2 with excessive or careless speed ran pell-mell down the road to get help Synonyms cursorily, headlong, hotfoot, hurriedly, pell-mell, precipitately, precipitously, rashlyRelated Words headfirst, headily, hotheadedly, impatiently, impetuously, impulsively, recklessly, thoughtlessly; automatically, glancingly, haphazardly; impromptu, spontaneously; abruptly, suddenly; offhand, offhandedlyNear Antonyms calculatingly, circumspectly, designedly; falteringly, haltingly, hesitantly, hesitatingly, tentatively; leisurely, slowlyAntonyms deliberately, studiedly