opportunistic
Americanadjective
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adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
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Pathology.
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(of a microorganism) causing disease only under certain conditions, as when a person's immune system is impaired.
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(of a disease or infection) caused by such an organism.
Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic disease that often strikes victims of AIDS.
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adjective
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of or characterized by opportunism
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med (of an infection) caused by any microorganism that is harmless to a healthy person but debilitates a person whose immune system has been weakened by disease or drug treatment
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of opportunistic
First recorded in 1890–95; opportunist + -ic
Explanation
To be opportunistic is to quickly take advantage of a situation, usually in a way that's just plain wrong. You know how an opportunity is a chance to do something? When you're opportunistic, you take advantage of that chance, usually immediately. Most of the time, this word is not neutral: people described as opportunistic are also considered unethical, like a business taking advantage of employees or customers in an opportunistic way. If someone dropped their wallet and someone else found it and kept it, that would be opportunistic. Being opportunistic is shady and self-serving.
Vocabulary lists containing opportunistic
This Week In Culture: March 29–April 4, 2020
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“Mandatory Vaccination is Not the Answer to Measles” by Bob Sears
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This Week In Culture: October 19–25, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It examines the current state of quantum information hardware and highlights the key opportunities and obstacles involved in building scalable quantum computers, communication networks, and sensing systems.
From Science Daily • Jan. 27, 2026
But they also came up empty on a couple of key opportunities against Frederik Andersen, who battled down one post-rebound finish attempt by Noah Dobson while down in the crease.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 21, 2024
Among the key opportunities it identifies are the move to hybrid and home working which it says gives younger people the chance to remain in their local areas rather than move away to find work.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 2023
Many of the pros said that friends and fellow students from their college networks provided key opportunities to compose scores.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2022
But that was also when Preston stumbled upon the first of several key opportunities that would shape Camp Small’s expansion.
From Washington Post • Jan. 25, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
