1
as in chameleons
a person who dexterously and expediently changes or adopts opinions
ever the opportunist, she immediately set about becoming the incoming administrator's new best friend
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in bottom-feeders
one who does things only for his own benefit and with little regard for right and wrong
an opportunist who makes friends and then drops them as soon as they aren't useful anymore
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of opportunists
Farage has instituted a May 7 deadline for prospective Conservative defectors to officially switch to Reform, warning that his party will not be open to last-minute opportunists seeking to court his growing support base closer to election time.
—
Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 26 Jan. 2026
Thousands of players entered the portal this cycle and the sport’s biggest opportunists (and spenders) were active early.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 16 Jan. 2026
Sérgio Lisboa Machado, a co-author of the paper and a professor at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, said mosquitoes are opportunists who don't venture far to find food.
—Dr. Crystal Richards, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2026
The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The sci-fi comedy follows a Paige, Keke Palmer and Naomi Ackie as a crew of boosters (aka professional shoplifters/equal opportunists), who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 13 Dec. 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
Sometimes hawks rise above Helm’s whirling bar cloud – opportunists.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
That sluggish growth deepened religious and ethnic fault lines and allowed political opportunists to foment violence, forcing the authorities to focus on maintaining stability rather than spur economic transformation.
—Amaka Anku, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2025
Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 26 Jan. 2026
Thousands of players entered the portal this cycle and the sport’s biggest opportunists (and spenders) were active early.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 16 Jan. 2026
Sérgio Lisboa Machado, a co-author of the paper and a professor at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, said mosquitoes are opportunists who don't venture far to find food.
—Dr. Crystal Richards, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2026
The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The sci-fi comedy follows a Paige, Keke Palmer and Naomi Ackie as a crew of boosters (aka professional shoplifters/equal opportunists), who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 13 Dec. 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
Sometimes hawks rise above Helm’s whirling bar cloud – opportunists.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
That sluggish growth deepened religious and ethnic fault lines and allowed political opportunists to foment violence, forcing the authorities to focus on maintaining stability rather than spur economic transformation.
—Amaka Anku, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for opportunists
Noun
-
Today, those invaders have been cleared, and more than 100,000 native saplings have grown into a lush forest cover that’s now home to sunbirds, bulbuls, geckos and chameleons.—
Chris Schalkx,
Vogue,
30 Sep. 2025
-
There will be a piñata and crafting, including Lele dolls, carnival masks and pipe cleaner chameleons.—
Linda Mcintosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For nearly the first two decades of their existence, the New Orleans Saints were NFL bottom-feeders.—
Jim Reineking,
USA Today,
11 Dec. 2025
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Chicago is currently mired in a miserable seven-game losing streak, a confounding skid that includes defeats against NBA bottom-feeders like the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Yet despite their impressive size, encounters with these enigmas remain exceedingly rare due to the myriad of challenges of studying deep-sea sharks.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Casino Point underwater park is a popular spot where divers can see a variety of marine life, such as bat rays, angel sharks and the state fish, according to KTLA5.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Opportunists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opportunists. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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