Definition of opportunist
: one that is opportunistic or that practices opportunism a slick, shady, amoral opportunist who has only one desire: to get through life without a day of labor — Allan Ulrich Most burglars are opportunists.
opportunist
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Examples of opportunist in a Sentence
a political opportunist who changed his health-care plan to win the election
ever the opportunist, she immediately set about becoming the incoming administrator's new best friend
Recent Examples of opportunist from the Web
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Ever the opportunist, Trump embraced the moment and sent a follow-up tweet, welcoming the attention.
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Others, though, see Mr. Usovsky as evidence of Russia’s mastery of plausible deniability and its willingness to bet on opportunists, no matter how slim their chances of success.
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Others are opportunist: there is a painting of Lenin made entirely with human hair, done by a strangely flamboyant hairdresser who wanted the Communist Party Central Committee to attach him to the hairdresser’s salon in the Kremlin.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'opportunist'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of opportunist
1873
OPPORTUNIST Defined for English Language Learners
opportunist
playDefinition of opportunist for English Language Learners
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: someone who tries to get an advantage or something valuable from a situation without thinking about what is fair or right
Medical Dictionary
opportunist
playMedical Definition of opportunist
: an opportunistic microorganism
Learn More about opportunist
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for opportunist Spanish Central: Translation of opportunist Nglish: Translation of opportunist for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of opportunist for Arabic speakers
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