opportunism

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"opportunism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“opportunism” is uncommon English (frequency #50,707 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,707
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.

Corpus desk

Index EN-opportunism · opportunism · English

opportunism · rank #50,707 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,707
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH opry

Nearest frequency peer: opry (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “opportunism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “opportunism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for opportunism
PropertyValue
Headwordopportunism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#50,707
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “opportunism” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).opportunismfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “opry” (#50,708), “ourself” (#50,710), “nuptials” (#50,703). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “opportunism” is #50,707. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

opportunism is uncommon English at frequency #50,707 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for opportunism, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism. The correct English form is opportunism, spelled O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
  2. 2
    The political line of Communist Party members who zealously support the Party, but whose trait is that they yield to the mood of the moment, they are unable to resist what is fashionable, leading to the sacrifice of the permanent and essential interests of the Party to the momentary and minor interests.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how opportunism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Opportunism today, as represented by its principal spokesman, the ex-Marxist Karl Kautsky, fits in completely with Marx's characterization of the bourgeois position quoted above, for this opportunism limits recognition of the class struggle to the sphere of bourgeois relations. (Within this sphere, within its framework, not a single educated liberal will…

Etymology

From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism.

This word in other languages

oportunismo(Español)opportunisme(Français)Opportunismus(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "opportunism"?
"opportunism" is spelled O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-S-M.
What does "opportunism" mean?
As a noun, "opportunism" means: The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
What is the origin of the word "opportunism"?
From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "opportunism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

photometric#50,720musculature#50,688policewoman#50,727Prendergast#50,736

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list