opportunistic
[op-er-too-nis-tik, -tyoo-]
- adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
- Pathology.
- (of a microorganism) causing disease only under certain conditions, as when a person's immune system is impaired.
- (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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Origin of opportunistic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for opportunistically
Contemporary Examples
We now have more capital than we anticipated, [which will] allow us to opportunistically build what we have not been able to do.
Historical Examples
We must go at it seriously and scientifically and solidly, not superficially, casually, and opportunistically.
opportunistic
- of or characterized by opportunism
- 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
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for opportunistically
opportunistic
adj.
1889, see opportunist + -ic. Related: Opportunistically.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
opportunistic
(ŏp′ər-tōō-nĭs′tĭk)- Of or relating to an organism capable of causing disease only in a host whose resistance is lowered.
- Of or relating to a disease caused by an opportunistic organism.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.