dead-ender

Definitions

1. One who has no prospects for the future; a loser; a dropout.
2. One who still holds onto a political position or other viewpoint that is considered outdated or defeated.

Examples

“In the first months after the fall⟳ of Baghdad, Rumsfeld and his aides still had a limited view⟳ of the insurgency, seeing it as little more than the work⟳ of Baathist "dead-enders," criminal gangs, and foreign terrorists who were Al Qaeda followers.”

“Unlike the ideological dead-enders, veterans of the Goldwater campaign, they didn't see⟳ much difference between Reagan and Ford—and, other things being equal, they were more inclined to side with the establishment than with the insurgency[…]”

CEFR level