opportunist
noun
op·por·tun·ist
ˌä-pər-ˈtü-nist 
-ˈtyü-
: 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
Allan UlrichMost burglars are opportunists.
opportunist
adjective
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
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
The film’s most powerful scene arrives when Turdugul’s grandmother refuses to sell her property to routine opportunists and laments about a vanishing village that has been slipping through her fingers — an occasion Akynbekov and Kubat approach with an unobtrusive, documentarian aesthetic.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Republicans saw him as an exploiter of Bush’s insecurities and an opportunist who amassed power at the expense of Congress.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
As played with bravado by Macfadyen, the unhinged Guiteau comes across as a stop-at-nothing opportunist consumed by his overinflated vision of his own significance and purpose.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for opportunist
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Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
The film’s most powerful scene arrives when Turdugul’s grandmother refuses to sell her property to routine opportunists and laments about a vanishing village that has been slipping through her fingers — an occasion Akynbekov and Kubat approach with an unobtrusive, documentarian aesthetic.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Republicans saw him as an exploiter of Bush’s insecurities and an opportunist who amassed power at the expense of Congress.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
As played with bravado by Macfadyen, the unhinged Guiteau comes across as a stop-at-nothing opportunist consumed by his overinflated vision of his own significance and purpose.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for opportunist
Cite this Entry
“Opportunist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opportunist. Accessed 5 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
opportunist
noun
op·por·tun·ist
-ˈt(y)ü-nəst
: one that is opportunistic or that practices opportunism
opportunist
adjective
Medical Definition
opportunist
noun
op·por·tun·ist
ˌäp-ər-ˈt(y)ü-nəst
: an opportunistic microorganism
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