opportunist

noun

op·por·tun·ist | \ ˌä-pər-ˈtü-nist,

-ˈtyü-\

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.

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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 on the Web

Go after your opportunity and be aggressive, but don’t pester or be an opportunist. — Amber Kallor, Allure, "How Frankie Boyd Went From Being a M.A.C. Counter Cashier to an A-List Makeup Artist," 30 July 2018 The amateur hunters and the independent and commercial hunters aren’t all venal, money-grubbing opportunists. — Rachel Becker, The Verge, "A dinosaur obsession leads to stolen fossils and prison time in this new book," 15 Oct. 2018 Munyan and Barrale know that critics see Daniels as a brazen opportunist capitalizing on her fifteen minutes of fame. — Amy Chozick, Vogue, "Stormy Daniels Isn’t Backing Down," 28 Aug. 2018 The wealthy media owner is often presented as either a philanthropist stepping in to save a legacy brand from oblivion, or as an opportunist trying to launder their reputation and influence the political conversation in their favor. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, "The Other Side of Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post," 27 June 2018 These are politically motivated opportunists who use their offices for their own personal enrichment. — Fox News, "Dad of Parkland victim reacts to release of shooter's videos," 1 June 2018 The lamentations kept pouring in throughout the evening, including from the national Democratic campaign committees, MoveOn, Tom Steyer, and other political opportunists. — Karl Rove, WSJ, "Whom Do Red-State Democrats Fear Most?," 11 July 2018 Political rivals over the years have attempted to paint Warren as a liar and an opportunist. — NBC News, "Fact check: Trump wants Warren to prove her Native American heritage. Could she?," 6 July 2018 In movies, the music industry’s shady opportunists are often cast as overly tan white men with heavy gold chains, who wear their dyed hair teased high. — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "Forced to Perform As Aretha Franklin," 2 July 2018

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.