1
as in chameleon
a person who dexterously and expediently changes or adopts opinions
ever the opportunist, she immediately set about becoming the incoming administrator's new best friend
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in bottom-feeder
one who does things only for his own benefit and with little regard for right and wrong
an opportunist who makes friends and then drops them as soon as they aren't useful anymore
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of opportunist
On the other side, the Reverend Al Sharpton, a corpulent, demagogic presence, took up the victims’ cause, and was seen by some as a radical, and by almost everyone as an opportunist.
—
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The sci-fi comedy follows a Paige, Keke Palmer and Naomi Ackie as a crew of boosters (aka professional shoplifters/equal opportunists), who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 13 Dec. 2025
Anne is stuck in a love triangle between the one who got away, Captain Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) and blunt opportunist (and her distant cousin) William Elliot (Henry Golding), who isn't shy about his attempts to seduce Anne or his intentions to inherit the family fortune.
—Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for opportunist
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The sci-fi comedy follows a Paige, Keke Palmer and Naomi Ackie as a crew of boosters (aka professional shoplifters/equal opportunists), who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 13 Dec. 2025
Anne is stuck in a love triangle between the one who got away, Captain Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) and blunt opportunist (and her distant cousin) William Elliot (Henry Golding), who isn't shy about his attempts to seduce Anne or his intentions to inherit the family fortune.
—Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for opportunist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for opportunist
Noun
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Biles has been tapping into her inner beauty chameleon over the past few months.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Black trousers are a true wardrobe chameleon, equally at home with bold red outerwear, bohemian layers, or even a bit of leopard print.—
Christina Holevas,
Vogue,
29 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The Warriors already might be too far ahead in the standings to catch bottom-feeders like the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers in the race to maximize their draft-lottery odds.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Tomlin wasn’t taking a bottom-feeder job.—
Jerry Brewer,
New York Times,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Chinese are crazy for shark fins.—
Jonathan Miles,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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The underwater habitat is home to the state fish, the Garibaldi, along with angel sharks, bat rays and other marine life.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Thus the self-seekers and the doctrinaires were drawn together into an alliance to maintain the status quo, and all its abuses and inequalities were made sacrosanct.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Dec. 2011
Noun
-
The former vice-president’s characterizations of peers such as Pete Buttigieg (talented but too gay for the America to accept as her running mate), and Josh Shapiro (an egoist) are not particularly juicy, but have already caused bad blood.—
Book Marks
September 25,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
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His characters come off as feisty egoists who enjoy sparring and comparing the size of their ambitions.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
13 May 2025
Noun
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Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein’s latest collaboration is a spiritual sequel to their 2019 masterpiece, once again putting an undeniably charming schemer through a nightmarish gauntlet of trials and tribulations to chase an impossible dream.—
Anastasia Sanger,
Glamour,
22 Dec. 2025
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In various shadows of the things that have been, Chris Hoch plays young Ebenezer’s father as an abusive drunk, a schemer who saddled the family with debt.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Opportunist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opportunist. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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