basket case

noun

, Slang.

1. Offensive. a person who has had all four limbs amputated.
2. a person who is helpless or incapable of functioning normally, especially due to overwhelming stress, anxiety, or the like.
3. anything that is impaired or incapable of functioning:

   Right after the war the conquered nation was considered an economic basket case.

basket case

noun

1. a person who is suffering from extreme nervous strain; nervous wreck
2. taboo.
   a person who has had both arms and both legs amputated
3. 1. someone or something that is incapable of functioning normally
   2. ( as modifier )

      a basket-case economy

Sensitive Note

In the sense of “an amputee,” 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of basket case¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Idioms and Phrases

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 (“basket”), 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]

Example Sentences

When Fujimori took office in 1990, Peru was Latin America’s basket case.

From Los Angeles Times

Our nation may not be a basket case on the verge of state failure—the impression you would get from listening to the apocalyptic rhetoric at a Trump rally—but it is still a country with many serious problems that demand innovative policy solutions.

From Slate

For years, Scottish football used to look at managerial merry-go-rounds in English football and decry it as a basket case environment, Now, it’s every bit as volatile in this country, if not worse.

From BBC

So when her voice catches talking about that moment in “Tuesday,” I flash back to a few recent lump-in-the-throat moments in her podcast, like the time she was a “basket case” interviewing Bonnie Raitt, describing her music as “holy.”

From Los Angeles Times

And Jeremy Jordan’s Gatsby is an adorably panicked basket case, second-guessing in charming comic song his plan to ambush Eva Noblezada’s Daisy with a reunion.

From New York Times

Related Words

• defenseless
• destitute
• forlorn
• impotent
• paralyzed
• powerless
• unable
• unprotected
• vulnerable
• weak