hard core
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hard core
1. noun A very devoted subset of group or organization. They're the hard core of the group, so I'd talk them if you're interested in volunteering. I wouldn't say Todd is part of the hard core—he's pretty unreliable, actually. You girls are the hard core of the choir that have kept it going all these years.
2. noun A style of rock music that is especially loud and aggressive. Usually spelled as one word. I used to listen to hardcore, but I've moved on to other genres. Just because I'm not into hardcore doesn't mean I'm over here listening to folk music! Sometimes, you just need to scream along to hardcore and get all your feelings out that way.
3. adjective Describing someone who is staunch and unyielding in their beliefs. Often hyphenated or spelled as one word. She's a hard-core liberal, so good luck getting her to listen to your conservative views. Wow, Dan's in jail? I had no idea he'd become such a hard-core advocate for the city's homeless population. Soap opera fans are hard-core. Say one negative thing about their fave actor, and they are all up in your mentions!
4. adjective Describing pornography that is especially graphic or explicit. Often hyphenated or spelled as one word. I was appalled to find hard-core porn on his computer. Whoa! I hardly ever watch porn, so I'm definitely not ready for anything hard-core! I thought the film would be some tasteful, artsy musing on love and sex, but, no, it was basically hard-core porn. I walked out!
5. adjective Describing something that is especially intense or impressive. Often hyphenated or spelled as one word. Wow, you're really specializing in surgery? That's hardcore! That girl is hardcore. I mean, she's pregnant, and she just ran a half-marathon! A: "I think I'm gonna do it. Forget the BA, I'm going for the BFA." B: "Wow, Bachelor of Fine Arts—that's hardcore."
6. adjective Describing a style of rock music that is especially loud and aggressive. Usually spelled as one word. I used to play in a hardcore punk band back in college. Just because I'm not into hardcore rock doesn't mean I'm over here listening to folk music! I can't go to those hardcore rock shows with him anymore—they give me a headache.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
(the) ˌhard ˈcore
(British English) the small central group in an organization, or in a particular group of people, who are the most active or who will not change their beliefs or behaviour: It’s only really the hard core that bother(s) to go to meetings regularly. ▶ ˈhard-core adj.1 having a belief or a way of behaving that will not change: a hard-core political activist
2 relating to pornography (= books, videos, etc. that describe or show naked people and sexual acts) of an extreme kind: hard-core sex magazines
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hard-core
1. mod. sexually explicit; pornographic. You can’t sell that hard-core stuff in a store like this!
2. mod. extreme; entrenched. There are too many hard-core cases of poverty there.
3. mod. very good; stunning; great. I’d like a really hard-core pizza with at least five kinds of cheese.
4. mod. extreme; quintessential. She thinks of herself as a hard-core leftist.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.