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Glite Dictionary
hardliner

hardliner

19 7.5
A person who refuses to change their beliefs, especially in politics
  • noun
  • /ˈhɑrdˌlaɪnər/
translation icon : intransigente
  • Ronald Reagan's election in 1980 pleased the hardliners in the community and rekindled their hopes for Castro's overthrow.
  • conservative hardliners
  • military hardliners
  • hardliners and fundamentalists

Deng Xiaoping came down on the side of the hardliners.

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Examples

  • But the community was not as solidly united in its opposition as many hardliners thought.

    Academic text (1998)

  • But even President Rouhani wants to stay president, and he has hardliners he has to deal with and manage.

    Harvard University

  • In light of your political positions, will the hardliners continue to support your re-election?

    Hitman (2007)

  • The power of hardliners increases when outside attacks on Iran are threatened, and this affects the women's movement.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Many of the more sweeping changes that conservative hardliners had dreamed of were made impossible by the heterogeneous group of delegates.

    Academic text (2017)

  • As we shall see, the party hardliners' strategy of confrontation acted as the catalyst to change all that.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The first group, composed of conservatives or hardliners, resisted any form of sociopolitical change away from strict apartheid.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The hardliners in the party refused to budge on their strict policies.

  • During the debate, it became clear that the hardliners were unwilling to compromise on their beliefs.

  • Political analysts suggest that the hardliners will influence the upcoming elections significantly.

Synonyms

ideologue
vshardliner
33 9.0

A person who strongly supports certain ideas and ignores practical facts

is uncompromising but emphasises strict belief rather than active promotion
diehard
vshardliner
19 6.8

A person who stays loyal to a belief, group, or team and refuses to change

is uncompromising in beliefs rather than mainly showing steadfast loyalty
absolutist
vshardliner
3 8.1

A person who holds strict beliefs and refuses to accept compromise

is uncompromising but emphasizes strict political or ideological stance
dogmatist
vshardliner
1 8.4

A person who strongly holds their own beliefs and does not listen to other views

is uncompromising but focuses on political belief strictness rather than arrogance
party liner
vshardliner
8.4

A person who always supports their political party's official views without question

is uncompromising beyond party loyalty not only following official positions

Antonyms

moderate
85 4.6

A person with political views that are not extreme

How Uncompromising

extremist
  • Literature
65 6.9
hardliner
19 7.5
moderate
85 4.6
compromiser
3 4.8

Surface Forms

hardliner singular
hardliners plural

Morphology

hardliner = hard-line (transparent) = hard + line + er

The adjective 'hard-line' meaning uncompromising is clearly the base, and adding the agentive suffix '-er' yields 'person who holds that position'.

Etymology

Hardliner comes from hard- meaning 'firm' or 'tough' and line meaning a 'position', like when you 'draw a line' and refuse to cross it. So a hardliner is a person who keeps a firm, strict position and will not change, especially in politics.