opportunism means the practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences. It carries an Arena rating of 1264, earned across 97 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, opportunism ranks #297 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,035 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,557 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,701 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “opportunism” is a great word
OPPORTUNISM — [Noun] The practice of exploiting fleeting circumstances for immediate gain, with a distinct disregard for principle or ultimate consequence. From French opportunisme, from opportune (from Latin opportunus, "fit, convenient") + the suffix -ism, denoting a practice or system. Unlike pragmatism, which navigates reality within an ethical frame, or expediency, a neutral term for a temporary measure, opportunism is a habitual, self-serving calculus that treats every shift in the wind as a personal summons. It is the politician's sudden, wholesale conversion, the investor's predatory lunge at a crisis, and the lover's declaration timed to a moment of vulnerability—a philosophy that mistakes a door left ajar for an invitation written in one's own name.
Etymology
From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism.
noun
- The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
- The political line of Communist Party members who zealously support the Party, but whose trait is that they yield to the mood of the moment, they are unable to resist what is fashionable, leading to the sacrifice of the permanent and essential interests of the Party to the momentary and minor interests.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.