opportunistic

adjective

op·​por·​tu·​nis·​tic ˌä-pər-tü-ˈni-stik 

-tyü-

: taking advantage of opportunities as they arise: such as

a

: exploiting opportunities with little regard to principle (see principle sense 1) or consequences

a politician considered opportunistic

an opportunistic investment

b

: feeding on whatever food is available

opportunistic feeders

opportunistic bears

c

: being or caused by a usually harmless microorganism that can become pathogenic when the host's resistance is impaired

opportunistic infections

opportunistic diseases

opportunistically

ˌä-pər-tü-ˈni-sti-k(ə-)lē 

-tyü-

adverb

Examples of opportunistic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This capital will be directed towards organic growth, value-accretive M&A, attractive, progressive dividends (50% dividend payout ratio), and opportunistic share buybacks. —Joe Cornell, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

Before then, coach Mikey Varas and squad will attempt to learn from several defensive breakdowns that, exploited by opportunistic Houston, showed how vulnerable a first-place team can be. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2025

Luna, the Real Salt Lake star who has become a leader of this Gold Cup group, grabbed the opportunistic first goal after Luca de la Torre’s shot from distance was parried back into the box. —Paul Tenorio, New York Times, 3 July 2025

The story of a loser who's lucky at gambling, The Winner cast Madsen as Wolf, the opportunistic brother of D'Onofrio's Phillip. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

opportunist + -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for opportunistic

• anachronistic
• animalistic
• antagonistic
• antiphlogistic
• behavioristic
• cannibalistic
• capitalistic
• characteristic
• collectivistic
• deterministic
• ethnolinguistic
• expressionistic

Kids Definition

opportunistic

noun

op·​por·​tu·​nis·​tic -t(y)ü-ˈnis-tik 

: taking advantage of opportunities as they arise: as

a

: exploiting opportunities with little regard to principle or consequences

an opportunistic cheater

b

: feeding on whatever food is available

opportunistic feeders

Medical Definition

opportunistic

adjective

op·​por·​tu·​nist·​ic -t(y)ü-ˈnis-tik 

1

: of, relating to, or being a microorganism that is usually harmless but can become pathogenic when the host's resistance to disease is impaired

2

: of, relating to, or being an infection or disease caused by an opportunistic organism

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and other opportunistic infections that kill AIDS patients

—New York Times