Which to use
“opportunist” and “opportunity” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,532
- “opportunist” frequency rank
- #1,201
- “opportunity” frequency rank
- 39733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | opportunist | opportunity |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone who takes advantage of any opportunity to advance their own situation, placing expediency above principle. | A chance for advancement, progress or profit. |
Where the eye mixes opportunist and opportunity
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. opportunist (VCCVCCVCVCC) and opportunity (VCCVCCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: opportunist vs opportunity
A purely visual mix-up. opportunist (/ˌɒpə(ɹ)ˈtjuːnɪst/) and opportunity (/ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.tɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
opportunist is recorded at frequency rank #38,532, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌɒpə(ɹ)ˈtjuːnɪst/. opportunity is at rank #1,201, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.tɪ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 39733, this pair ranks #274,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of opportunist vs opportunity
Shared letters: inoprtu. Private to "opportunist": s. Private to "opportunity": y.
"opportunist" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC · "opportunity" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- opportunist ← opoprtunist · oportunist · opporrtunist · opportnuist · opporttunist · opportuinst · opportunisst · opportunistt
- opportunity ← opoprtunity · oportunity · opporrtunity · opportnuity · opporttunity · opportuinty · opportunitty · opportunityy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "opportunist" for "opportunity" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "opportunist" or "opportunity" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "opportunist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "opportunity" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "opportunist" and "opportunity" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opportunist vs opportunistic". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #274,029 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.