as in nervous breakdown
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Recent Examples of basket case
America has become a fiscal basket case, and neither party is offering any kind of serious solution for a disaster that is already contributing to brutal inflation and may one day crush the value of the dollar.
—
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 31 Oct. 2025
His main accomplishment was to transform the country by giving us Joe Biden who then transformed the country into a basket case.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 16 Oct. 2025
Over the course of their day together, Claire the princess (Ringwald), Andrew the jock (Estevez), Brian the brain (Hall), Allison the basket case (Sheedy) and John the criminal (Nelson) begin to drop their stereotypical public facades and reveal their private struggles.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 16 Aug. 2025
The Breakfast Club stars Molly Ringwald (Claire, the princess), Emilio Estevez (Andrew, the athlete), Judd Nelson (John, the criminal), Ally Sheedy (Allison, the basket case), and Anthony Michael Hall (Brian, the brain).
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for basket case
Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 31 Oct. 2025
His main accomplishment was to transform the country by giving us Joe Biden who then transformed the country into a basket case.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 16 Oct. 2025
Over the course of their day together, Claire the princess (Ringwald), Andrew the jock (Estevez), Brian the brain (Hall), Allison the basket case (Sheedy) and John the criminal (Nelson) begin to drop their stereotypical public facades and reveal their private struggles.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 16 Aug. 2025
The Breakfast Club stars Molly Ringwald (Claire, the princess), Emilio Estevez (Andrew, the athlete), Judd Nelson (John, the criminal), Ally Sheedy (Allison, the basket case), and Anthony Michael Hall (Brian, the brain).
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for basket case
Recent Examples of Synonyms for basket case
Noun
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This happened years before, in such a serious way that my friend had to take a three-month medical leave of absence due to what was likely a nervous breakdown.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2026
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When their news anchor (Peter Finch) has a nervous breakdown on the air, suddenly their ratings turn around, bringing on a moral morass only some of them are prepared to face.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But the following year, as the pandemic wore on and crime rates ticked up, the politics of criminal justice in the city shifted toward law-and-order anxiety, even as new waves of COVID infection struck the jails.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
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War rumbles on Putin, who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister since the last day of 1999, faces a wave of anxiety in Moscow about the war in Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins, and drained Russia’s $3 trillion economy.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
But many of the Wall Street decision makers who attended Semafor World Economy are sounding alarms.—
Rachel Keidan,
semafor.com,
7 May 2026
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But health policy experts raised alarm bells over a steep decline in the number of people being tested for HIV, as well as a reduction in people diagnosed and newly enrolled in treatment.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
When comparing the age breakdown of Congress to the rest of the American workforce, there's a sizable gap.—
Elena Moore,
NPR,
7 May 2026
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Although the practice is still in the theoretical research stage, scientists have spent two decades studying the chemical compounds associated with the breakdown of the human body.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Basket case.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/basket%20case. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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