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.

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
Several academic authorities on hate crimes in America identified three types of bias crime offenders: the thrill seeker, the reactive offender, and the hard-core offender.
The seven-stage hate model: the psychopathology of hate groups
Now that we've defined hard-core bowhunting, what's the purpose?
Hard-core bowhunting: an all-out approach to bowhunting yields game in the bag -- and much more
In an experiment two years ago, 20 hard-core films were given a special R18 certificate allowing them to be sold in licensed sex shops.
Blues boss hits out at porn video censorship
Unfortunately, 1972 proved to be the high-water mark of the liberal, "demand side" approach to reducing hard-core drug use.
The Fix
According to an executive summary released by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) titled National Drug Control Strategy, current drug use indicates that, although the number of casual users is declining, hard-core use remains high, use among young people is increasing, an production and availability of illegal drugs is also on the rise.
New drug strategy
Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel may be the most popular spreadsheets for ordinary number crunchers, but for hard-core analysts who have to piece together many separate spreadsheets, the hands-down favorite program is Sinper Corp.'s TM/1 Spreadsheet Connector.
Help for number crunchers
On "Remove, Separate Self,'' from the recent album "Ruining Lives,'' heavy rockers Prong offer a strangely metaphysical musing to a hard-core soundtrack.
Deep rock
I'm sure nowadays the guns would be more hard-core-looking, so I'm sure we've probably gone for the more hard-core version of guns than they had in the 80s.
Sienna Miller to be turned into a doll
During the mudslinging run-up to the midterm election, reports revealed that Boyias--the CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, which produces hard-core gay-porn flicks like Wet Palms and Jackhammer is a frequent contributor to the Republican National Committee.
Snap judgment: gay-porn king Nicholas T. Boyias is no friend to the Democrats--but that doesn't mean he's an enemy of the gays
A Midland prison scheme targeting hard-core offenders has been backed by a Home Office Minister.
Minister supports offender project
"Some of the hard-core libertarian language was removed when the bill was in the council," says Few.
Love for sale: Berkeley's prostitution initiative
As the New York City coordinator, she says she was "treated like a celebrity." She was especially impressed with the Germans' "hard-core committment" to the monthly event, as well as by the tall German beers.
Green partying
Mark Pitcavage, a hard-core leftist, was chosen as research director of SLATT and has influenced federal training of thousands of local police officers nationwide.
ADL's leftist influence still at Bush-Ashcroft DOJ
A sex store will this week make its third bid to sell hard-core videos in a family shopping area.
New bid by sex store
Last week an investigator was taken by him into the back room of the shop, where hard-core pornographic videos and magazines are on display.
Police blunder frees blue movies villain