Word.ws English Dictionary

basketcase

basketcase is the alternative spelling of basket case.

Meaning of basket case

Noun

basket case (plural basket cases)

  1. (colloquial, historical, offensive) Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs.
    • 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.1919, Official Bulletin (U.S. Comm. Public Information), 28 March
  2. (colloquial) An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise).
    • This country is a financial basket case, a country so broke that it should be a perfect warning to lenders.
  3. (colloquial, potentially offensive) One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable.
    • She was a complete basket case the morning of her wedding.
  4. (colloquial) An item in a disassembled state that is brought to be repaired.

Forms of basketcase

pluralbasketcases

Questions about basketcase

What is basketcase the alternative spelling of?
Basketcase is the alternative spelling of basket case.

Words near basketcase in the dictionary

  1. basketballese
  2. basketballing
  3. basketballs
  4. basketbrawl
  5. basketbrawls
  6. basketcase
  7. basketcases
  8. basketed
  9. basketeer
  10. basketeers
  11. basketflower

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: basketcase (page history and authors); basket case (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “basketcase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/basketcase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.