From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishopportunistop‧por‧tun‧ist /ˌɒpəˈtjuːnɪst $ ˌɑːpərˈtuː-/ noun [countable] 1 CHANCE/OPPORTUNITYsomeone who uses every opportunity to gain power, money, or unfair advantages – used to show disapproval Voters dislike opportunists – politicians who change their policies according to opinion polls.2 CRIMEsomeone who commits a crime because they have a chance to, and not because they planned to Most burglars are opportunists. an opportunist crime —opportunist adjective the opportunist policies of wartime leaders —opportunistic /ˌɒpətjuːˈnɪstɪk◂ $ ˌɑːpərtuː-/ adjective opportunistic thefts from cars
Examples from the Corpus
opportunist• It is difficult to tell whether he really wants to help May or whether he is just an opportunist.• Some of the crime is committed by opportunists who wander into students rooms and take cash and credit cards.• As the finance company started to fail a few opportunists managed to make more money out of it.• The herring gulls are local resident birds, and great opportunists, able to change their feeding habits to whatever is available.• The ships have gone and so has the Black Rat, but the opportunist Brown Rat remains a threat ashore.• There are basically two types of thief: the opportunist and the pro.• The woman I had spoken with was directly responsible for deciding what the opportunist was paid.• The opportunist was told what he deserved to know: nothing.• The opportunist, too, deserved applause.• an unethical opportunistFrom Longman Business Dictionaryopportunistop‧por‧tun‧ist /ˌɒpəˈtjuːnəstˌɑːpərˈtuː-/ noun [countable] a person or organization that is willing to use every chance to gain an advantage or make moneyThese companies represent a growing band of economic opportunists - they move with lightning speed whenever an opportunity opens. —opportunistic adjectiveWe’re a very opportunistic company, continually looking to strengthen ourselves strategically in individual market segments. —opportunistically adverbWe’re learning how to sell much more opportunistically. 