1. a person or thing regarded as useless or unable to cope: informal"do that for a couple of days and you become a blithering basket case"
▪ a country or organization that is in severe financial or economic difficulties, especially one that is unable to pay its debts:informal"sudden meltdowns—such as the financial crisis—can turn flourishing countries into basket cases overnight"
Word OriginFirst World War: originally US slang denoting a soldier who had lost all four limbs and was thus unable to move independently.
