See basket case on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From basket + case, based on rumors during World War I that wounded soldiers were transported in baskets.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "basket cases",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "basket case (plural basket cases)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "damaged goods"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "stretcher case"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1919, Official Bulletin (U.S. Comm. Public Information), 28 March",
"text": "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."
},
{
"ref": "1973, Norman Mailer, Marilyn, Taschen, published 2022, page 73:",
"text": "Her mind, at its worst, is in ways analogous to a basket-case who seethes with desires to move but has no limbs.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs."
],
"id": "en-basket_case-en-noun-wTrwW4Yf",
"links": [
[
"limb",
"limb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial, now historical, offensive) Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"historical",
"offensive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "This country is a financial basket case, a country so broke that it should be a perfect warning to lenders.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Some countries are breadbaskets, others basket cases.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Selig S. Harrison, Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 48:",
"text": "The stereotypical image of North Korea as a hopeless economic basket case ignores the fact that there are extensive natural resources there.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2018 December 21, Stuart Jeffries, “Germany’s Hidden Crisis by Oliver Nachtwey review – social decline in the heart of Europe”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:",
"text": "But before that could happen, the large parts of the business that were a complete basket case had to be dealt with severely.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise)."
],
"id": "en-basket_case-en-noun-6BWE62J0",
"links": [
[
"institution",
"institution"
],
[
"country",
"country"
],
[
"economically",
"economically"
],
[
"financially",
"financially"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial) An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise)."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "2 95 3",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zāogāo",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"word": "糟糕"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 95 3",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hoffnungsloser Fall"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 95 3",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "caso perdido"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 95 3",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "vrak"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 95 3",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "ruin"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "8 15 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "13 21 66",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "8 17 75",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "7 8 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "15 17 68",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "17 16 67",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "14 18 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "14 17 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 19 70",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "19 17 65",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 10 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 14 70",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "She was a complete basket case the morning of her wedding.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1985 April 9, Donald Gworek, “Thoughts on why this group isn't brimming with postings.”, in net.suicide (Usenet):",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2019 July 9, Toni Bentley, “What Do the Sex Lives of ‘Three Women’ Tell Us About Female Desire?”, in New York Times:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable."
],
"id": "en-basket_case-en-noun-cXt231-1",
"links": [
[
"powerless",
"powerless"
],
[
"ineffective",
"ineffective"
],
[
"nerve",
"nerve"
],
[
"panic",
"panic"
],
[
"stress",
"stress"
],
[
"exhaustion",
"exhaustion"
]
],
"qualifier": "potentially offensive",
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial, potentially offensive) One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "emotional cripple"
}
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "fèirén",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "廢人 /废人"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "zenuwpees"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "hermoraunio"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "loque"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "épave"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Nervenbündel"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "kłębek nerwów"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 2 97",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "nervvrak"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-basket case.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/En-au-basket_case.ogg/En-au-basket_case.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/En-au-basket_case.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "basketcase"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "basket-case"
}
],
"word": "basket case"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations"
],
"etymology_text": "From basket + case, based on rumors during World War I that wounded soldiers were transported in baskets.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "basket cases",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "basket case (plural basket cases)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "damaged goods"
},
{
"word": "stretcher case"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"English offensive terms",
"English terms with historical senses",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1919, Official Bulletin (U.S. Comm. Public Information), 28 March",
"text": "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."
},
{
"ref": "1973, Norman Mailer, Marilyn, Taschen, published 2022, page 73:",
"text": "Her mind, at its worst, is in ways analogous to a basket-case who seethes with desires to move but has no limbs.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs."
],
"links": [
[
"limb",
"limb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial, now historical, offensive) Someone (especially a soldier) who has lost all four limbs."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"historical",
"offensive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "This country is a financial basket case, a country so broke that it should be a perfect warning to lenders.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "Some countries are breadbaskets, others basket cases.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Selig S. Harrison, Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 48:",
"text": "The stereotypical image of North Korea as a hopeless economic basket case ignores the fact that there are extensive natural resources there.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2018 December 21, Stuart Jeffries, “Germany’s Hidden Crisis by Oliver Nachtwey review – social decline in the heart of Europe”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:",
"text": "But before that could happen, the large parts of the business that were a complete basket case had to be dealt with severely.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise)."
],
"links": [
[
"institution",
"institution"
],
[
"country",
"country"
],
[
"economically",
"economically"
],
[
"financially",
"financially"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial) An institution or country in a bad condition or difficult situation (economically, financially or otherwise)."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"English offensive terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "She was a complete basket case the morning of her wedding.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1985 April 9, Donald Gworek, “Thoughts on why this group isn't brimming with postings.”, in net.suicide (Usenet):",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2019 July 9, Toni Bentley, “What Do the Sex Lives of ‘Three Women’ Tell Us About Female Desire?”, in New York Times:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable."
],
"links": [
[
"powerless",
"powerless"
],
[
"ineffective",
"ineffective"
],
[
"nerve",
"nerve"
],
[
"panic",
"panic"
],
[
"stress",
"stress"
],
[
"exhaustion",
"exhaustion"
]
],
"qualifier": "potentially offensive",
"raw_glosses": [
"(colloquial, potentially offensive) One made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic, stress or exhaustion; someone considered mentally unstable."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "emotional cripple"
}
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-basket case.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/En-au-basket_case.ogg/En-au-basket_case.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/En-au-basket_case.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "basketcase"
},
{
"word": "basket-case"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "fèirén",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "廢人 /废人"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "zenuwpees"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"word": "hermoraunio"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "loque"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "épave"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Nervenbündel"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "kłębek nerwów"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "one made powerless or ineffective, as by nerves, panic or stress",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "nervvrak"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zāogāo",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"word": "糟糕"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hoffnungsloser Fall"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "caso perdido"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "vrak"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in a bad condition",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "ruin"
}
],
"word": "basket case"
}
Download raw JSONL data for basket case meaning in All languages combined (7.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.