opportunistic

adjective

op·​por·​tu·​nis·​tic ˌä-pər-tü-ˈni-stik 

-tyü-

: taking advantage of opportunities as they arise: such as

a

: exploiting opportunities with little regard to principle (see principle sense 1) or consequences

a politician considered opportunistic

an opportunistic investment

b

: feeding on whatever food is available

opportunistic feeders

opportunistic bears

c

: being or caused by a usually harmless microorganism that can become pathogenic when the host's resistance is impaired

opportunistic infections

opportunistic diseases

opportunistically

ˌä-pər-tü-ˈni-sti-k(ə-)lē 

-tyü-

adverb

Examples of opportunistic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of rallying public support, the cabbies were on the receiving end of a backlash, with passengers taking to social media to share their bad experiences of rude taxi drivers, ride rejections and opportunistic charging during heavy rains and the city’s regular summer typhoons. —Chris Lau, CNN, 8 June 2024

Playing the charismatic, opportunistic Lord Kashigi Yabushige, Asano brings a boisterous joy, bracing intelligence and rock-star presence to the role. —Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2024

The worst of them is the opportunistic Hans Landa, the role that won Christoph Waltz his first Best Supporting Actor Oscar (of two) for a performance in a Tarantino film. —EW.com, 31 May 2024

That opportunistic behavior was documented at one of NDA’s Field to Fork events in Missouri in 2022, when a new hunter began to approach his first deer just as a skunk crawled onto the dead doe’s back and dug into the backstraps. —Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 23 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

opportunist + -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

opportunistic

noun

op·​por·​tu·​nis·​tic -t(y)ü-ˈnis-tik 

: taking advantage of opportunities as they arise: as

a

: exploiting opportunities with little regard to principle or consequences

an opportunistic cheater

b

: feeding on whatever food is available

opportunistic feeders

Medical Definition

opportunistic

adjective

op·​por·​tu·​nist·​ic -t(y)ü-ˈnis-tik 

1

: of, relating to, or being a microorganism that is usually harmless but can become pathogenic when the host's resistance to disease is impaired

2

: of, relating to, or being an infection or disease caused by an opportunistic organism

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and other opportunistic infections that kill AIDS patients

—New York Times