Opportunistic (Adjective)

Definition 1: Exploiting opportunities presented by some weakness; taking advantage of weaknesses in others.

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Usage 1: We hear today's word increasingly confused with "opportune." "Opportune" means "suitable or convenient in time or circumstance." It would be opportune to buy a new car during a sale but it would be opportunistic for the salesman to take advantage of an inexperienced customer to sell him a more expensive model than he needs. The noun is "opportunism" and the adverb, "opportunistically." An opportunistic person is an "opportunist."

Suggested usage: Tabby, our cat, is such an opportunist that every time our schnauzer goes out, she takes the opportunity to eat any food left in his bowl. It would not be opportune for Rover to go outside when he is hungry. I once had an equally opportunistic colleague who collected furniture from others' offices when it was placed in the hall in order to clean the carpets.

Etymology: Latin opportunus, from ob- toward + portus "port, harbor." PIE [p] becomes [f] in Germanic languages (Grimm's Law), so this same stem *per-t/*por-t becomes "ford" in English and "fjord" in Norwegian. Latin portare "to carry" comes from the same source. The root without the suffix -t also underlies Modern German fahren "to go by conveyance" and English fare "travel by conveyance" found in Modern English "thoroughfare" (a through-pass), "How did you fare?" and "farewell." Greek peran "to pass through" and poros "passageway" (borrowed as "pore" in English) also devolved from the same root. For more PIE, read "How is a Hippo like a Feather" in yourDictionary's library. (Thanks to Eric Snyder II, who though it an opportune moment to allow us the opportunity to explore "opportunistic.")

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