opportunist

opportunist

See also: Opportunist

English

Etymology

From French opportuniste.

Noun

opportunist (plural opportunists)

1. Someone who takes advantage of any opportunity to advance their own situation, placing expediency above principle.
   • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎:

     James Milner's angled free-kick was headed on to the post by the tireless Bent and Lampard the opportunist was perfectly placed to stoop and head in from virtually on the goal-line.

Synonyms

• chancer

Related terms

• opportune
• opportunism
• opportunistic
• opportunity

Translations

someone who takes advantage of any opportunity

Asturian: oportunista m or f Azerbaijani: fürsətçi Belarusian: апартуні́ст m (apartuníst), апартуні́стка f (apartunístka) Catalan: oportunista m or f Chinese: Mandarin: 变色龙 (zh), 變色龍／变色龙 (zh) (biànsèlóng) Czech: oportunista m Danish: opportunist (da) c Dutch: opportunist (nl) m, opportuniste f Esperanto: oportunisto Estonian: oportunist Finnish: opportunisti (fi) French: opportuniste (fr) Galician: oportunista m or f German: Opportunist (de) m, Opportunistin f, Wendehals (de) m Irish: brabúsaí m Italian: approfittatore (it) m, opportunista (it) m or f Japanese: 蝙蝠 (ja) (kōmori) Korean: 기회주의자 (ko) (gihoejuuija) Latvian: oportūnists m, oportūniste f Norwegian: opportunist (no) m Persian: فرصت طلب‎ (fa) (forsat-talab), اپورتونیست‎ (fa) (oportunist) Polish: oportunista (pl) m, oportunistka (pl) f Portuguese: oportunista (pt) m or f, chupim (pt) m Russian: оппортуни́ст (ru) m (opportuníst), оппортуни́стка (ru) f (opportunístka), приспособле́нец (ru) m (prisposoblénec), приспособле́нка (ru) f (prisposoblénka) Serbo-Croatian: oportunist (sh) Spanish: oportunista (es) m, (Puerto Rico) vela güira f, aprovechado (es) m, aprovechón m, ventajista m or f, ventajoso (es) m (Mexico), ventajero m (Argentina, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic), encajoso m (Mexico), pancista (es) m or f (colloquial) Swedish: opportunist (sv) c Tagalog: mapanamantala Turkish: fırsatçı (tr) Ukrainian: опортуні́ст m (oportuníst), опортуні́стка f (oportunístka), пристосо́ванець m (prystosóvanecʹ), пристосо́ванка f (prystosóvanka)

Further reading

• opportunist in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• opportunist in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911