From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbasket caseˈbasket case noun [countable] 1 informalNERVOUS someone who you think is crazy SYN nut case2 a country with many severe economic and social problems that are likely to continue for a long time
Examples from the Corpus
basket case• Mom was a complete basket case at our wedding.• By any measure, the delta is an environmental basket case.• Compared to them, I was without skill, a vocational basket case.From Longman Business Dictionarybasket caseˈbasket ˌcase noun [countable usually singular] journalismECONOMICS a company, country, or economy that is doing so badly and has so many problems that it is likely to fail completelyBy any standard, the area is aneconomic basket case. 