Meanings
alternative to hell in a handcart
- idiomaticinformalTo go to a bad state of affairs quickly.
I watched as the guy in charge did nothing and the whole place went to hell in a handbasket.
2 more examples
Ralph's close vision had deteriorated quite a bit since Carolyn’s death—gone to hell in a handbasket might actually have been a more accurate way of putting it—and he had to lean forward until his brow was pressed against the dirty show window of Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes before he could decipher it: […]
1994, Stephen King, InsomniaGen Xers were said to be lazy—“slackers” in the parlance of the time—who didn’t exhibit the straightforward work ethic of their predecessors. […] Commentators wrung their hands about the slackers in our midst, further evidence that society was going to hell in a handbasket.
2010, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, page 121
Origin
Images in church iconography suggest similar phrases may date back to 1515. The first attestation is from 1682, the variation to hell in a handcart is attested since 1841, and a phrase similar to to heaven in a wheelbarrow is first attested in 1618. The popularity of the variation "to hell in a handbasket" may be connected to its alliteration.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish menossa päin helvettiä
- menossa päin helvettiäTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
French partir en vrille, partir en sucette
- partir en vrilleTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- partir en sucetteTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- partir en couilleTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- partir en cacahuèteTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- se casser la gueuleTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- tomber à l'eauTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
Polish but see schodzić na psy, zejść na psy
- but see schodzić na psyTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- zejść na psyTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
Romanian naiba de tot, naibii de tot
- naiba de totTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- naibii de totTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- dracu’ de totTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
- dracului de totTo go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined
Cite this entry
to hell in a handbasket. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20hell%20in%20a%20handbasket
“to hell in a handbasket.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20hell%20in%20a%20handbasket. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “to hell in a handbasket,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20hell%20in%20a%20handbasket.
Source: to hell in a handbasket on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.