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

Relevance

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 After reports of a lousy atmosphere during Argentina’s narrow victory over Egypt, in the round of sixteen, there were rumors that hundreds of hard-core supporters had been flown to Atlanta, to pep things up in the stadium. — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 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 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
  • For a deeper look at its cultural history, take a boat from Oban to remote Oneke, or The Neck, an early Māori settlement and the tūrangawaewae—place of belonging—of Rakiura Māori.
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Nov. 2026
  • If successful, the work could help future missions explore areas that are difficult for conventional rovers to reach, including deep valleys and underground environments.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 13 Nov. 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
  • An inveterate performer, Carvey gave off a sense of perpetual people-pleasing, and the results were undeniably popular and hilarious, as the laughs echoed throughout his sketches.
    — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of inveterate
Adjective
  • In a July 2009 interview with the American Film Institute, Jones discussed how director George Lucas hired him despite his lifelong stutter, which had improved over time.
    — Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The woman, who has a lifelong right to anonymity, told the court during the trial that in 2009 Brand’s two associates, Bayles and another producer, told her to give him a massage.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of lifelong
Adjective
  • Still, Ginnifer’s death shows how the most entrenched elements of faith-healing communities resist aggressive enforcement.
    — Noelle Crombie, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Allowing political control over grantmaking to become more deeply entrenched would make recovery considerably harder.
    — Carole LaBonne, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of entrenched
Adjective
  • CardsHQ's Wilson said some variation between assessments is an inherent challenge in a process that involves human judgment.
    — Matthew Tan, CNBC, 7 Nov. 2026
  • This may involve following an order from inception to fulfillment; even a delivery exception or a refund can reveal inherent dependencies that haven’t been explored but will surface during implementation.
    — Chris Dunn, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of inherent
Adjective
  • Clive’s homophobia, which draws on the myth that gay men are prone to pedophilia, seems less rooted in concern for his sons than in a fear that Leo will take or alter something that Clive claims as his own.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Cowles died in 2014, but Baranski remains deeply rooted in his hometown.
    — Katie Schultz, Architectural Digest, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of rooted

Browse Nearby Words

hardcase
hard-core
hardcover
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hard-core.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-core. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All