Hardliner

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who firmly maintains strict and uncompromising political or ideological beliefs without yielding
2. One who advocates rigid adherence to certain principles or policies and resists any compromise or change
3. An individual characterized by inflexibility and a refusal to moderate their views, often in a political or organizational context

Etymology: "Hardliner" is a plain compound: "hard line" plus the agent suffix "-er", meaning one who holds to a hard line. The line in question is a policy line, a fixed course of action that someone refuses to bend from. The "-er" ending comes ultimately from Latin "-arius", which passed through Old French "-ier" and Middle English "-er" before becoming a productive English suffix for people, as in "banker" or "farmer". The "hard line" element is the more telling part. It draws on the older idea of a line as a firm boundary or course, so a hard line is one that cannot be moved, and the hardliner is the person who will not move it. The word's meaning therefore rests on a physical image of drawing a line that stays put, then applied to politics and ideology.

Synonyms: extremist, radical, diehard, traditionalist, fundamentalist

Antonyms: moderate, liberal, centrist, progressive, reformist