opportunist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who exploits circumstances for personal advantage, often without regard for principles or consequences

   The opportunist changed sides as soon as the rival faction gained power.

2. 2
   adj

   seeking immediate personal advantage from whatever circumstances arise rather than following a consistent principle

   The committee rejected his opportunist tactics as cynical and untrustworthy.

Borrowed from French opportuniste, formed from opportun ("opportune, advantageous") + -iste. The political label developed in the nineteenth century for someone guided by expediency; it later broadened to anyone who seizes circumstances for self-advancement.

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