Meaning of basket case | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs.
   colloquial, historical, offensive
2. An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise).
   colloquial
3. One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable.
   colloquial

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

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

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

“Some countries are breadbaskets, others basket cases.”

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

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

CEFR level