This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
basket case
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun Slang.
Offensive. a person who has had all four limbs amputated.
a person who is helpless or incapable of functioning normally, especially due to overwhelming stress, anxiety, or the like.
anything that is impaired or incapable of functioning: Right after the war the conquered nation was considered an economic basket case.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Origin of basket case
First recorded in 1915ā20
usage note for basket case
In the sense of āan amputee,ā this term is perceived as insulting. It is military slang dating from World War I. Basket cases were soldiers who had lost all of their limbs and could not be safely carried on stretchers, though these types of casualties were probably very rare. At that time, a basket case was a wicker basket used to carry linens or other dry goods.
Words nearby basket case
basis weight, bask, Baskerville, basket, basketball, basket case, basket catch, basket chair, basket clause, basket dinner, basket fern
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use basket case in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for basket case
basket case
noun slang
a person who is suffering from extreme nervous strain; nervous wreck
mainly US and Canadian taboo a person who has had both arms and both legs amputated
- someone or something that is incapable of functioning normally
- (as modifier)a basket-case economy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with basket case
basket case
A person or thing too impaired to function. For example, The stress of moving twice in one year left her a basket case, or The republics of the former Soviet Union are economic basket cases. Originating in World War I for a soldier who had lost all four limbs in combat and consequently had to be carried in a litter (ābasketā), this term was then transferred to an emotionally or mentally unstable person and later to anything that failed to function. [Slang; second half of 1900s]
The American HeritageĀ® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright Ā© 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.