opportunist
Americannoun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of opportunist
First recorded in 1865–70; opportun(ism) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )
Explanation
Opportunists are people who see a chance to gain some advantage from a situation, often at the expense of ethics or morals. An opportunist seizes every opportunity to improve things for himself. Say you won millions in the lottery. People would come out of the woodwork hoping to get their hands on some of it. These people act as if they are close friends. But they are not; they are opportunists. Famous opportunists include “carpetbaggers,” Northern opportunists who, after the American Civil War, poured into the South to turn Reconstruction into personal financial gains.
Vocabulary lists containing opportunist
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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The Underground Railroad
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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.
Regardless of how you showed up, you were a brilliant antagonist for a morally flexible opportunist.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Letlhogonolo Mogale, who binged the show days after its release, described Jonasi as an "serial cheater" and "opportunist who would do anything to satisfy himself".
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Under cross-examination by OpenAI attorney Sarah Eddy, Brockman sought to reframe diary entries that Musk's lawyers had used the previous day to portray him as a calculating opportunist.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
She may be a conniving opportunist; she may be an abused and desperate woman simply hoping for a better life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
He was a valorous opportunist who pounced hoggishly upon every opportunity Colonel Korn discovered for him and trembled in damp despair immediately afterwards at the possible consequences he might suffer.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
