Opportunivore
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person who subsists on still-edible food that has been or was going to be discarded.
"An estimated $75 billion worth of food is thrown out yearly in America, and it doesn’t take a great leap of logic to connect the desire to live sustainably with the almost limitless supply of free food that overflows the nation’s dumpsters. Thus the opportunivore can forage either overtly or covertly, by asking up front or diving out back."
- 2 One who will generally eat whatever is available, having a diet that excludes few foods.
"Their secret? Like us, they [coyotes] survive by adapting: they’re opportunivores, feeding on everything from insects to garbage to deer; […]"
- 3 A person who actively seeks or takes advantage of opportunities.
"Those were heady times for a young, omnivorous reporter: I handled everything from stakeouts to regional front-page features, writing on topics from nuclear power to heroin addiction. I call myself an "opportunivore" because I’m still drawn to a wide range of stories."
Example
More examples"An estimated $75 billion worth of food is thrown out yearly in America, and it doesn’t take a great leap of logic to connect the desire to live sustainably with the almost limitless supply of free food that overflows the nation’s dumpsters. Thus the opportunivore can forage either overtly or covertly, by asking up front or diving out back."
Etymology
From opportunity + -vore.
More for "opportunivore"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.