basket case

plural basket cases · alternative basketcase · alternative basket-case

1. colloquialhistoricaloffensiveSomeone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs.First known use 20th c.

   Her mind, at its worst, is in ways analogous to a basket-case who seethes with desires to move but has no limbs.

   1973, Norman Mailer, Marilyn, Taschen, published 2022, page 73

   1 more example

   The Surgeon General of the Army […] denies […] that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated […] of the existence of ‘basket cases’ in our hospitals.

   1919, Official Bulletin (U.S. Comm. Public Information), 28 March

2. colloquialAn institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise).First known use 20th c.

   Some countries are breadbaskets, others basket cases.

   4 more examples

   This country is a financial basket case, a country so broke that it should be a perfect warning to lenders.

   The stereotypical image of North Korea as a hopeless economic basket case ignores the fact that there are extensive natural resources there.

   2009, Selig S. Harrison, Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 48

   The Germany described by this Frankfurt School professor is a basket case – post-growth, post-democratic, with the first fascists in the Bundestag since the Third Reich.

   2018 December 21, Stuart Jeffries, “Germany’s Hidden Crisis by Oliver Nachtwey review – social decline in the heart of Europe”, in The Guardian

   But before that could happen, the large parts of the business that were a complete basket case had to be dealt with severely.

   2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51

3. colloquialpotentially offensiveOne made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable.First known use 20th c.

   She was a complete basket case the morning of her wedding.

   2 more examples

   Often, when you share a deep dark secret with friends, your friends start to treat you differently. It is very damaging to be treated like a basket case, when you intended only to CONFIDE a fear.

   1985 April 9, Donald Gworek, “Thoughts on why this group isn't brimming with postings.”, in net.suicide (Usenet)

   Taddeo’s sad, searing, sometimes unbearably painful tales of bad decisions, agonies and humiliations at the shrine of “love” show us that, in spite of 10 to 15 minutes here and there of truly hot sex, a woman “in love” is frequently a basket case.

   2019 July 9, Toni Bentley, “What Do the Sex Lives of ‘Three Women’ Tell Us About Female Desire?”, in New York Times

   Synonyms: emotional cripple

4. colloquialAn item in a disassembled state that is brought to be repaired.