opportunistic

[op-er-too-nis-tik, -tyoo-]

adjective

1. adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.

2. Pathology.

   1. (of a microorganism) causing disease only under certain conditions, as when a person's immune system is impaired.

   2. (of a disease or infection) caused by such an organism.

      Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic disease that often strikes victims of AIDS.

opportunistic

/ ˌɒpətjʊˈnɪstɪk /

adjective

1. of or characterized by opportunism

2. 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

• opportunistically adverb
• unopportunistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of opportunistic¹

First recorded in 1890–95; opportunist + -ic

Example Sentences

The Dallas telecom giant’s chief executive, John Stankey, called the deal “an opportunistic and pre-emptive asset acquisition.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Others argue that the department’s disciplinary system allows opportunistic officers to take advantage of complaints in order to settle grievances with colleagues, distract from their own problems or earn a big payday.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This exploitation was of course opportunistic in the extreme, but it also revealed something fundamental about totalitarian psychology.

Read more on Salon

But an opportunistic wedding crasher made off with more than a goodie bag at a reception over the weekend.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They contrasted that with what they claim is not only opportunistic rhetoric from Farage, but an attempt to sow grievance without providing solutions.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• cosmopolitan 
• hardened 
• practical 
• selfish 
• urbane