as in aggressive
attentive to and ready to act on opportunities for personal gain or advancement
The opportunistic salesperson was always on the lookout for potential new customers.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of opportunistic
Cognitive flexibility, opportunistic survival, and social cooperation have allowed rats to thrive in conditions that wipe out other species.
—
Jason Bittel, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Despite standing at 6-foot-2 and playing a game more suited for a forward six inches taller, Payton entered Friday night having made 16 consecutive field goals, the vast majority of them being opportunistic dunks and layups off smart cuts and putbacks.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
Bald eagles are opportunistic foragers but prefer fish as their primary food and are found in great densities where fish are abundant.
—Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 26 Mar. 2026
In the end, Carr’s efforts at the FCC stand to turn laws meant to protect free speech into opportunistic muzzles, leaving network TV smothered by a conversation its leadership spent too long avoiding.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for opportunistic
Jason Bittel, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Despite standing at 6-foot-2 and playing a game more suited for a forward six inches taller, Payton entered Friday night having made 16 consecutive field goals, the vast majority of them being opportunistic dunks and layups off smart cuts and putbacks.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
Bald eagles are opportunistic foragers but prefer fish as their primary food and are found in great densities where fish are abundant.
—Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 26 Mar. 2026
In the end, Carr’s efforts at the FCC stand to turn laws meant to protect free speech into opportunistic muzzles, leaving network TV smothered by a conversation its leadership spent too long avoiding.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for opportunistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for opportunistic
Adjective
-
Orbán's nationalist party has become a model for MAGA populists, particularly for its aggressive stance on immigration.—
Hannah Demissie,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Florian Wirtz was over aggressive in his initial press and then lacked urgency to help balance out City’s right-side overload, while neither Curtis Jones or Ryan Gravenberch drifted across.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, be diligent because mint spreads rapidly.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Iran is taking diligent steps to ensure only certain vessels are able to pass, prioritizing countries with friendlier relations or ships with links to their own trade.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And for aspiring scientists, book tickets for the talk with space scientist Sheila Kanani at the Spring Stage.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Stephanie Christian said the funding provided by the TREP program was appealing for an aspiring teacher who would enter a historically lower-paying career.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As an industrious and self-reliant senior, Ringwald essentially baby-sits her chronically myopic father (Harry Dean Stanton), sews her own clothes and contends with the condescension of her patrician peers.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Mar. 2026
-
But what do real beaver experts actually do to study these industrious creatures?—
Brianne Kane,
Scientific American,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
All Stanford students are ambitious, but many of the most enterprising among them drop out.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Our enterprising Gravedigger, a true woman of science, engineers a lizard elixir and regenerates the finger into a long tentacle that eventually demands a body.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That dynamic duo combined to strike out nine while scattering seven hits and three walks, with the hard-throwing Owen notching six of the strikeouts.—
Rick Armstrong,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
And that dynamic slowly, slowly, slowly shifted to being the right direction.—
Amy Amatangelo,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Opportunistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opportunistic. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
