hard-core

adjective

ˈhärd-ˈkȯr How to pronounce hard-core (audio)
Definition of hard-corenext
as in deep
firmly established over time the hard-core habits that generate our mountains of trash everyday will be extremely difficult to change

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hard-core Nexstar‘s The Hill hopes to get a bump from offering a new tier of content to hard-core subscribers. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 8 July 2026 On the court, the nickname goes back to the 1930s, when journalists evoked the Bible’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a way of describing the four hard-core conservative justices who blocked progressive legislation for years. — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 7 July 2026 These are not social Democrats, these are hard-core, godless communists. — CBS News, 28 June 2026 Last year’s Superman was divisive among the hardcore fandom but grossed a very respectable $619 million worldwide, kicking off the new era of DC Studios under co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran on a promising note. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 24 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for hard-core
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-core
  1. deep
  2. inveterate
  3. lifelong
  4. entrenched
  5. inherent
  6. rooted
Adjective
  • Both have built much of their appeal on opposition to the political establishment, the promise to wish away budget constraints, and deep hostility toward the European Union.
    — Nicholas Bequelin, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Acting was his guiding passion, but his deep love for the avant-garde helped till the ground for the city’s theatrical renaissance that the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival catalyzed.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of deep
Adjective
  • The Beach Boys’ touring machine has been going nearly nonstop for the last 65 or so years, as Stamos and Christian Love noted in the intro, driven by Mike as one of pop music’s most inveterate and even seemingly compulsive tourers.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The cast features not just the creator, who makes the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype her own as ukulele troubadour Lulu, but also a pre-Bridgerton Jonathan Bailey in the wild role of an inveterate womanizer.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of inveterate
Adjective
  • The bystander who stepped in to stop a gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, has come forward and identified himself as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident who has two daughters at the school.
    — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • At its heart is a son’s final request that gives his father a lifelong purpose.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of lifelong
Adjective
  • How far might a nation go that had no kings to depose, no entrenched hierarchies to uproot, a country so young and iconoclastic and resource-rich?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • But her best argument is that City Hall and the entrenched political establishment need a major shake-up, because the machine is now a jalopy.
    — Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of entrenched
Adjective
  • Early on, Sakurai exploits the inherent absurdity of telling a story populated by so many ludicrous characters.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But the broader takeaway here is that the inherent volatility of oil and gas prices is a persistent vulnerability in the US economy that can only be solved by limiting exposure to these energy sources.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of inherent
Adjective
  • With his rooted presence and remarkable nuance, Nawazuddin embodies Mehboob’s essential contradictions.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For a brand so rooted in sleek designs and drenched in an ever-present Bauhaus inspiration, seeing a botanical print infiltrating its language was unexpected.
    — Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of rooted

Browse Nearby Words

hardcase
hard-core
hardcover
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Cite this Entry

“Hard-core.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-core. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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