How to Use opportunism in a Sentence

opportunism

noun
  • This isn’t just opportunism, a shot at grabbing street space while most cars are parked.
    — Alex Davies, Wired, 13 Apr. 2020
  • This opportunism is matched by a more overt sense of ambition.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2023
  • Oregon stabbed many in the back with its move and took opportunism to a slimy no-trust extreme.
    — Ndaschel, oregonlive, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Has Qatar’s opportunism – trying to play so many sides – come back to haunt it?
    — Jen Kirby, Daily Intelligencer, 11 June 2017
  • Some women who waited years to speak out were accused of opportunism.
    — Arno Pedram, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2020
  • This opportunism won him power.
    — Aluf Benn, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Now, the rationale is one of opportunism.
    — Mike MacEacheran, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 June 2025
  • Sometimes there’s an unavoidable whiff of opportunism in the air.
    — Nell Beram, New York Times, 2 July 2018
  • The crime and opportunism that often follow big storms has been a notable non-factor, at least for now.
    — Tamara Lush, The Seattle Times, 6 Sep. 2017
  • The crime and opportunism that often follows big storms has been a notable non-factor, at least for now.
    — Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2017
  • And the concept that baseball can take us away from that is a false narrative at best and crass opportunism at worst.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 4 July 2020
  • So its push to sell gas to desperate buyers overseas isn’t just opportunism.
    — Tim McDonnell, Quartz, 11 Aug. 2022
  • There has been much talk of double standards, opportunism, hypocrisy and all of the things that make politicians rather easy to call out.
    — Mark Leibovich, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2021
  • There are moments in your performance that clue us into that opportunism.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2024
  • The economics of opportunism is obvious at every stage in this great shift.
    — Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, 27 May 2020
  • The embrace of hazy IPA may smack of opportunism, but Dubovick doesn't care.
    — Josh Noel, chicagotribune.com, 5 July 2017
  • Some of this cultural cross-pollination, of course, had the stench of opportunism.
    — New York Times, 27 Aug. 2019
  • There is an unmistakable sense of opportunism in the air, and a touch of imagination.
    — Rob Mahoney, SI.com, 18 July 2019
  • Political opportunism was a big impetus for the speech, said two of the people.
    — Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2022
  • Finally, even when a real crisis exists, so too does opportunism.
    — Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Golden State built its advantage on ball movement and opportunism.
    — Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 9 May 2026
  • The best of them was the opportunism of Germany and Jamal Musiala.
    — Phil Hay, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
  • Leavitt’s opportunism was paying off.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 4 Feb. 2026
  • Consumers, too, have taken a hit as the culls contribute to soaring egg prices, though that may be due in part to opportunism from egg suppliers.
    — Melody Schreiber, The New Republic, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The Republicans could resume their opportunism over the deficit should the economic winds turn.
    — Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2021
  • This may sound like naked opportunism in the midst of a campaign, but gun control has been the through-line of Feinstein's political career.
    — Seema Mehta, latimes.com, 28 Mar. 2018
  • There was no coup' Clay's rise was borne out of dysfunction among Democrats and opportunism among Republicans.
    — James Briggs, Indianapolis Star, 15 Feb. 2018
  • There’s deep, poetic honor in the grueling fight to rebuild a standard; to find the creative sparks and opportunism required to surprise the world again.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 May 2026
  • In Makowsky’s telling, the Roslyn scandal wasn’t a simple case of opportunism, greed, or even, as suggested in the movie, sociopathy.
    — Holly Ojalvo, Quartz, 22 Apr. 2020
  • But turning this moment into lasting advantage will require careful planning, not just short-term opportunism.
    — Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 7 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'opportunism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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