Basket Case
/ˈbæs.kɪt ˌkeɪs/noun
A person or situation considered helpless, dysfunctional, or unable to cope.
Did you know?After World War I, the U.S. Army publicly denied rumors that hospitals were filled with quadruple-amputee “basket cases,” helping cement the phrase’s dark association with catastrophic injury.
Etymological Timeline
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
capsa
“A box, chest, or container; the ancestor of English case and related terms.”
13th Century
Middle English
basket
“A woven container; the word’s deeper origin is uncertain, possibly connected with French or Germanic forms.”
13th–14th Century
Anglo-French/English
case
“A container, covering, or box, ultimately descended from Latin capsa through French forms.”
1919
American English
basket case
“A person, especially a wounded soldier, supposedly so badly injured that they had to be carried in a basket.”
1930s–20th Century
English
basket case
“A person considered emotionally or mentally incapable of functioning.”
Modern English
English
basket case
“Any helpless, dysfunctional, or disastrously mismanaged person, organization, or situation.”