Hectic or excited, skip off (8)
I believe the answer is:
ricochet
'skip off' is the definition.
(to ricochet is to bounce off something)
'hectic or excited' is the wordplay.
'excited' is an anagram indicator.
'hectic'+'or'='hecticor'
'hecticor' with letters rearranged gives 'RICOCHET'.
(Other definitions for ricochet that I've seen before include "Bounce (off)" , "The rebound of a bullet off a surface" , "Glancing rebound" , "Deflection of bullet's path" , "indirect hit" .)