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hardcore

hardcore

33 6.3
Being very committed and loyal to a group or activity
  • adjective
  • /ˈhɑrdˌkɔr/
  • Informal
: acérrimo
  • He is a hardcore supporter of the environmental movement, attending every rally and event.
  • hardcore users
  • hardcore free-market
  • hardcore free-marketeers

And and that's a hard thing to say and I'm a hardcore scientist, right?

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Examples

  • But we do like to think of ourselves as hardcore gamers, very elite.

  • You're watching Ultimate Fighting but it's in a reality show format which doesn't make it feel as hardcore.

  • So it's like the most hardcore version of gold possible.

  • So you make sure they have an all in hardcore attitude.

  • So I went through some real hardcore difficulties financially.

  • We may be different nationalities, but we're both hardcore gold bugs.

  • I was very attracted to the fact that she is a hardcore virtue ethicist.

  • If I can just sell 10,000 records to his hardcore fanbase, we're golden.

  • I do have friends that are hardcore Republicans and plan to blindly vote for Romney.

    Blog text (2)
  • There is a parallel orthodoxy among hardcore free-marketeers who insist that markets will solve every social and environmental problem.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

hard-core
vshardcore
70 6.5

Very loyal and dedicated to a group or cause

is the same meaning but appears without a hyphen in modern usage
fanatical
vshardcore
23 6.8

Very strong support for an idea or cause without question

is strongly committed but not necessarily uncritical or blindly devoted
fanatic
vshardcore
18 4.3

Showing very strong enthusiasm for a cause in a way that ignores reason

is intensely committed without implying uncritical or excessive devotion

Antonyms

74 2.8

Happening only sometimes and not regularly

Compounds

hardcore fan
  • Informal
8 3.7

A person who loves something like a band or team a lot and shows strong support

1 6.3

A person who loves an activity very much and spends a lot of time on it

How Committed

fanatical
23 6.8
hardcore
  • Informal
33 6.3
dedicated
302 3.9
committed
412 4.0
interested
∞ 1.0
casual
173 2.8

Surface Forms

hardcore positive

Morphology

hardcore = hard + core (transparent) = hard + core

The sense 'extremely committed' is directly inferable from 'hard' (intensely) + 'core' (central group), indicating the most committed members.

Etymology

Hardcore comes from the parts hard and core, where hard means 'tough or intense' and core means 'center', like an 'apple core'. So Hardcore describes the strong, central group or the people who are most committed and loyal.