too hard basket

noun

A category of items that should be done but which are avoided because they are difficult.

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Meanings

nountoo hard basket (plural too hard baskets)

plural too hard baskets · alternative too-hard basket

  1. A category of items that should be done but which are avoided because they are difficult.

    It is a problem that many philosophers are perhaps inclined to put in the “too hard basket”.

    2014, John Wright, Explaining Science's Success, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    I have always had the ability to put difficult issues in the 'too hard basket' to avoid thinking about them and therefore to avoid having to deal with them.

    2007, Mary Moody, The Long Hot Summer, →ISBN

    They didn't learn much about the Cereus flower and related species and couldn't work out what the name meant or if it meant anything at all. Either way, they decided to put it in their too hard baskets for now.

    2012, Anthony Engel, Image Carriers, →ISBN

Origin

By analogy with the "in" and "out" baskets used to organize paperwork.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

too hard basket. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20hard%20basket

MLA

“too hard basket.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20hard%20basket. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “too hard basket,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20hard%20basket.

Source: too hard basket on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.