diehard

adj, noun — 5 senses

diehard

adj

US /ˈdaɪ.hɑɹd/ · UK /ˈdaɪ.hɑːd/

Etymology Deverbal from die hard.

1

Idiomatic Unreasonably or stubbornly resisting change.

2

Idiomatic Fanatically opposing progress or reform.

3

Idiomatic Complete; having no opposite opinion of anything in a particular topic of one's values; thorough of in one's beliefs.

  • For a Roman Catholic teacher, he sure is a diehard fundamentalist.
  • The libertarian right of the Consservative Party, many of them diehard Europhobes, privately referred to the health minister and his advisers as "the Gestapo" for their faith in enforced lockdowns.2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 644:
4

Idiomatic Strongly or fanatically determined or devoted.

Derived terms
diehard test, Twihard

diehard

noun

Etymology Deverbal from die hard.

1

Idiomatic A person with such an attitude.

  • I should like my Scottish correspondent to see recent statements by leading officers of certain American railways which both have been among the most extreme diehards for steam, and also have developed the most powerful and outstanding steam locomotive designs—[…].1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in RailwAy Magazine, page 13:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.