1
as in chameleons
a person who dexterously and expediently changes or adopts opinions
the kind of temporizer who determines his position on a political issue by taking a look at the polls
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in machinators
one who does things only for his own benefit and with little regard for right and wrong
a lifelong temporizer, he was for the war as long as it was popular and against it the minute the tide of public opinion went the other way
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for temporizers
Noun
-
In the middle of this spectrum, a trio of mid-career stylistic chameleons and sometime collaborators — Feid, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny — carefully map out intersecting tastes.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026 -
The Kardashian-Jenner clan are known to be quite the hair chameleons, sometimes debuting a new transformation with every outing.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Warriors already might be too far ahead in the standings to catch bottom-feeders like the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers in the race to maximize their draft-lottery odds.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
20 Jan. 2026
-
For nearly the first two decades of their existence, the New Orleans Saints were NFL bottom-feeders.—
Jim Reineking,
USA Today,
11 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
One of Katy Perry’s two gyrating sharks in fugue state.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
-
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
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.
Cite this Entry
“Temporizers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/temporizers. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
