as in nervous breakdown
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Recent Examples of basket case
Sri Lanka is an international basket case whose foreign reserves — which once stood at over $6 billion under the Rajapaksas — have dwindled to almost nothing.
—
New York Times, 29 May 2022
Naím was once, in a happier day, the finance minister of Venezuela, and Hugo Chávez, who took a troubled but essentially prosperous country with a long democratic tradition and turned it into an international basket case, comes in for close study.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022
When China was an economic basket case, 100 miles of ocean was more than enough deterrent.
—Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022
The village was literally a basket case, bereft of water, food and all hope.
—Steve West, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for basket case
New York Times, 29 May 2022
Naím was once, in a happier day, the finance minister of Venezuela, and Hugo Chávez, who took a troubled but essentially prosperous country with a long democratic tradition and turned it into an international basket case, comes in for close study.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022
When China was an economic basket case, 100 miles of ocean was more than enough deterrent.
—Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022
The village was literally a basket case, bereft of water, food and all hope.
—Steve West, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for basket case
Recent Examples of Synonyms for basket case
Noun
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Dern played a troubled sales executive who moves back in with her mom after a nervous breakdown at the office.—
Meriam Bouarrouj,
NBC news,
3 Nov. 2025
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Lane is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The attendees—thirty- and forty-somethings who are members of the bank’s Private Wealth Management (PWM) division, which boasts an average account size of over $75 million—gathered to hash out their anxiety and excitement.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
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Barton will have to wait another month to receive his sentence for the six guilty counts the jury returned on charges of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety to football broadcasters Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, and TV and radio host Jeremy Vine.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In Los Angeles this past year, the Red Cross installed more than 3,000 smoke alarms.—
Jasmine Viel,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
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Continue reading … POLITICS SHADOW MILITIA – 'Irregular' armed guards aboard Russian shadow tankers alarm Nordic-Baltic governments.—
,
FOXNews.com,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Three breakdowns appear repeatedly.—
Katerin Le Folcalvez,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
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Boston led late in the first half, but Denver capitalized on a rebounding breakdown to pull even.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Basket case.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/basket%20case. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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