pell-mell
/ˈpɛlˈmɛl/ adjective, adverb
Forms pell mell pellmell
- adjective Hasty and uncontrolled.
- adverb In haste and chaos; uncontrolledly, confusedly.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French pêle-mêle, from Old French pesle-mesle, apparently a rhyme based on the stem of mesler (“to mix, meddle”). Compare meddle, melee.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pell-mell”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details