- the permanent, dedicated, and completely faithful nucleus of a group or movement, as of a political party.
- an unyielding or intransigent element in a social or organizational structure, as that part of a group consisting of longtime adherents or those resistant to change.
- those whose condition seems to be without hope of remedy or change.
- a form of punk rock or other nonmainstream popular music played in an intense, harsh, and fast style with more emphasis on rhythm than on melody.
- unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated: a hard-core segregationist.
- relating to or containing sexually arousing depictions that are very graphic or explicit: hard-core pornography.
- being so without apparent change or remedy; chronic: hard-core inflation; hard-core unemployment.
- very intense or extreme: hard-core workouts at the gym.
- noting or relating to the music genre hardcore, or the subculture, clothing style, etc., associated with it: hardcore t-shirts and jeans.
- noting or relating to video games that can only be mastered with advanced skill and are played in longer sessions, or noting a player of such games: hard-core gaming.
- a style of rock music characterized by short fast numbers with minimal melody and aggressive delivery
- a type of dance music with a very fast beat
- the members of a group or movement who form an intransigent nucleus resisting change
- material, such as broken bricks, stones, etc, used to form a foundation for a road, paving, building, etc
- (of pornography) describing or depicting sexual acts in explicit detail
- extremely committed or fanatical
