opportunistic.

1. Taking available chances for benefit, often without consistent principle.

2. Able to flourish when conditions become favorable, especially when a host's defenses weaken.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• opportunistic alliance
• opportunistic behavior

On the page

The alliance was opportunistic rather than ideological.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Comparative more opportunistic; superlative most opportunistic when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, behavior. Commonness: moderately common.