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• die-hard
  die-hard

  noun

  a person who vigorously maintains or defends a seemingly hopeless position, outdated attitude, lost cause, or the like.
• die hard
  die hard

  Take a long time to cease to exist or be dropped from consideration. For example, Old prejudices die hard, or The more radical parts of this proposal will die hard. This idiom alludes to struggling against physical death. [Late 1700s]

die-hard

American  

[dahy-hahrd] / ˈdaɪˌhɑrd /

Or diehard

noun

1. a person who vigorously maintains or defends a seemingly hopeless position, outdated attitude, lost cause, or the like.

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adjective

1. resisting vigorously and stubbornly to the last; stubborn.

die-hard British  

noun

1. a person who resists change or who holds onto an untenable position or outdated attitude

2. (modifier) obstinately resistant to change

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die hard Idioms  

1. Take a long time to cease to exist or be dropped from consideration. For example, Old prejudices die hard, or The more radical parts of this proposal will die hard. This idiom alludes to struggling against physical death. [Late 1700s]

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Other Word Forms

• die-hardism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of die-hard

First recorded in 1835–45; noun, adj. use of verb phrase die hard

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

die-hard die hard

But the longtime Chicago Cubs season-ticket holder really was a die-hard baseball fan whose dream was to own a sports franchise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

But even die-hard college football fans didn’t know Chambliss’s name when he slotted in second on the depth chart last autumn in Mississippi.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Half a lifetime ago, Hunt was a die-hard Chicago Bears fan working in residence with an improv group at a small, aging theater in Amsterdam when he got swept up in Dutch soccer culture.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

There’s not much here, unless you’re a “House of the Dragon” die-hard.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

She considered herself a die-hard book nerd, but she realized even she needed a break after doing nothing but reading for the past four days.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

Yet the saying has persisted because old patterns die hard.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

Despite some confusion about the path forward, old habits apparently die hard.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026

Old habits die hard when winning becomes the norm, but sometimes key decisions are taken out of your hands.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026

Professional football is America’s guilty pleasure—and guilty pleasures die hard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

It’s been her modus operandi since I met her, and old habits die hard.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• old-line
• uncompromising