bred-in-the-bone

Adjective

bred-in-the-bone (comparative more bred-in-the-bone, superlative most bred-in-the-bone)

1. (idiomatic, usually, trait, belief) Firmly established or instilled; deep-seated.
   • They had the kind of bred-in-the-bone manners that were unobtrusively the same for one and all.1998, Judith Krantz, The Jewels of Tessa Kent, Bantam, published 1999, →ISBN, page 129
   • But few could match the bred-in-the-bone exceptionalism rooted deep in America's self-image.2008, Erna Paris, The Sun Climbs Slow: The International Criminal Court and the Struggle for Justice, Seven Stories Press, published 2009, →ISBN, page 47

   Synonyms:

   deep-rooted, deep-seated, dyed-in-the-wool

2. (idiomatic) Inveterate or habitual; long-standing.
   • Antrim, bred-in-the-bone Republican conservative, has a proud patriotic tradition.1982 March 17, Mary McGrory, “Arms Issue Joined At Grass Roots”, in Toledo Blade
   • Critics see an unreasonable craving for authority in Newman's anti-liberalism. He was also a bred-in-the-bone Tory, and as the youthful leader of the Oxford Movement that sought a bulwark against Parliamentary manipulation of Anglicanism in its ancient Catholic roots, he could be savagely polemical.2001 February 24, Peter Steinfels, “Beliefs; A 19th-century theologian whose questions remain pertinent to the Roman Catholic Church”, in The New York Times