hard core

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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
See also: core, hard
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(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
See also: core, hard
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

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
See also:
  • hard-core
  • ginger group
  • member
  • paid-up member (of something)
  • card-carrying member
  • a card-carrying member (of something)
  • a paid-up member, etc.
  • be a (fully) paid-up member of something
  • be a card-carrying member (of something)
  • fully
References in periodicals archive
This hard core of marginalist thinking that initiated from Adam Smith apparently was destroyed by Keynes, who replaced the individualistic, nominalist viewpoint for the societal/institutional, insisting that the state should abandon laissez-faire economics and diminish the role of the individual as it took on a greater -- leading -- role in the economic life of society.
Blaug on Kuhn versus Lakatos and the marginalist revolution
Director, Film Circuit, TIFFG Hard Core Logo Le Confessional Goin' down the Road Atanarjuat Spider Exotica Mon oncle Antoine Black Christmas A Married Couple The Saddest Music in the World
Canada's top 10 films of all time
Worldwide Computer Products News-10 April 2001-MIPS Technologies releases 32-bit hard cores (C)1995-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com
MIPS Technologies releases 32-bit hard cores
I am all in favour of the rule that prevents any water company cutting off the supply,for obvious reasons, but the water companies could keep within the law and at the same time cause the hard core non-payers plenty to think about by simply fitting a device to their supply that reduces the supply to a trickle.
Your Say: Dirty trickles
Police in London feared a hard core of up to 400 people intent on violence will adopt "guerrilla tactics", spreading out across the capital to stretch police resources and create numerous potential flashpoints.
Police on alert for May Day flashpoint
Hoolboom led to Mina Shum (Double Happiness, 1995), who led to John L'Ecuyer (Curtis's Charm, 1996), then Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo, 1996), Karl Skogland (Men with Guns, 1997), Don McKellar (Last Night, 1998), David Cronenberg (eXstenZ, 1999), back to McDonald (Picture Claire, 2001) and then Stopkewich.
The Tao of Callum Keith Rennie
Police in London feared a hard core of up to 400 people intent on violence will adopt ``guerrilla tactics'', spreading out across the capital to stretch police resources and create numerous potential flashpoints.
Capital ready for trouble
Detectives believe a "hard core" of 300-400 protesters intent on violence will be active in the capital on the day.
Police set for May Day Mayfair mayhem
that his current release, the fake "punkumentary" Hard Core Logo, was actually about national unity.
Winter tales: "now is the winter of our discontent"
THE majority of motorists consider driving while under the influence of illicit drugs an extremely serious crime but a hard core of 13% do not consider it to be so dangerous, according to the RAC.
Motoring: Drug-driving `a growing problem' on UK roads
Officers were called to Manor Park after public order problems inside the ground and some visiting fans, described by officers as "a hard core looking for trouble" were escorted on to a train at the town's station.
Flare-up at match
The Toronto critics, however, chose Bruce McDonald's Hard Core Logo and Robert Lepage's Le confessional as the year's best.
2nd annual Toronto film critics poll
The comparisons between Spinal Tap and Bruce McDonald's latest feature, Hard Core Logo are inevitable.
Hard core logo