Standard Lemma guide

opportunity

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.tɪ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-ˈt͡ʃuː.-/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: ä'pər-to͞oʹnə-tē
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌɑ.pɚˈt(j)u.nə.ti/
  • Canada, General-American: [-ɾi]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˌɔp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.ti/
  • Australian: /-ˈt͡ʃuː.-/
  • Australian: [-ɾi]
  • CMU ARPABET: AA2 P ER0 T UW1 N AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A chance for advancement, progress or profit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • seize the opportunity
  • take an opportunity
  • missed opportunity
  • The world is full of opportunities and it's up to me to see them and pursue them.
  • the opportunity came and went
  • You'll get a second opportunity if you miss this one.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A favorable circumstance or occasion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Having a holiday is a great opportunity to relax.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Opportuneness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, nonstandard, uncountable

Examples

  • The Court questioned the opportunity of introducing these measures in such an uncertain economic climate.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington
  • now is your chance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: possibility, possibleness

Narrower terms: brass ring, day, fresh start, clean slate, tabula rasa, hearing, audience, hunting ground, occasion, opening, room, say, shot, crack, street, throw

History

Etymology

From opportune + -ity, from Middle French opportunité, from Latin opportūnitās.

Across languages

Translations

181 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mundësi — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Albanian: shans — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Albanian: nge — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Arabic: فُرْصَة (furṣa) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Arabic: فرصة (furṣa) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Armenian: հնարավորություն (hnaravorutʻyun) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Asturian: oportunidá — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Azerbaijani: imkan — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Azerbaijani: fürsət — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Bashkir: форсат (forsat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Belarusian: магчы́масць (mahčýmascʹ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Belarusian: шанс (šans) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Belarusian: шанц (šanc) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Bengali: মওকা (moōka) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Bulgarian: възмо́жност (vǎzmóžnost) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Bulgarian: шанс (šans) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Burmese: အခွင့်အရေး (a.hkwang.a.re:) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Catalan: oportunitat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Catalan: ocasió — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Chinese Cantonese: 機會 /机会 (gei1 wui6) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Chinese: 機會 /机会 (zh-min-nan) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Chinese Mandarin: 機會 /机会 (jīhuì) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Czech: příležitost — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Czech: šance — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Danish: mulighed — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Danish: chance — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Dutch: kans — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Dutch: mogelijkheid — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Esperanto: okazo — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Esperanto: oportuno — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Esperanto: eblo — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Estonian: võimalus — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Finnish: tilaisuus — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Finnish: mahdollisuus — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • French: occasion — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • French: opportunité — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Galician: oportunidade — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Galician: vagar — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Galician: emposta — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Georgian: შესაძლებლობა (šesaʒlebloba) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Georgian: შანსი (šansi) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • German: Gelegenheit — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • German: Chance — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • German: Möglichkeit — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐍅 (lēw) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Greek: ευκαιρία (efkairía) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Ancient Greek: εὐκαιρία (eukairía) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Ancient Greek: καιρός (kairós) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hebrew: הִזְדַּמְּנוּת (hizdamnut) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hindi: अवसर (avsar) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hindi: मौक़ा (mauqā) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hungarian: alkalom — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hungarian: lehetőség — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hunsrik: Gelechenheet — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Hunsrik: Gelechenheit — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Icelandic: færi — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Irish: faill — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Irish: deis — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Italian: occasione — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Italian: opportunità — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Italian: possibilità — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Italian: chance — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Japanese: 機会 (kikai) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Japanese: チャンス (chansu) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Kabuverdianu: txansa — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Kabuverdianu: xanse — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Kazakh: мүмкіндік (mümkındık) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Khmer: ឱកាស (ʼaokaah) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Korean: 기회 (gihoe) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Korean: 찬스 (chanseu) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Northern Kurdish: firset — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Kyrgyz: мүмкүндүк (mümkündük) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Kyrgyz: мүмкүнчүлүк (mümküncülük) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Lao: ໂອກາດ (ʼō kāt) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Latin: opportūnitās — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Latin: ampla — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Latvian: iespēja — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Lithuanian: próga — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Macedonian: можност (možnost) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Macedonian: шанса (šansa) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Malayalam: അവസരം (avasaraṁ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Malayalam: തക്കം (takkaṁ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Maltese: opportunità — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Māori: arawātea — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Mongolian: боломж (bolomž) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Navajo: ashja — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mulighet — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjanse — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Occitan: oportunitat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Pashto: فرصت (fersát) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Persian: فرصت (forsat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Persian: شانس (šâns) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: gratka — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: możliwość — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: okazja — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: pretekst — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: sposobność — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Polish: szansa — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Portuguese: oportunidade — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Romanian: oportunitate — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Romansh: pussaivladad — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Russian: возмо́жность (vozmóžnostʹ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Russian: шанс (šans) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Northern Sami: vejolašvuohta — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: могу́ћно̄ст — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: при́лика — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: при̏года — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: ша̏нса — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: mogúćnōst — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: prílika — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: prȉgoda — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Serbo-Croatian: šȁnsa — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Slovak: príležitosť — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Slovak: šanca — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Slovene: priložnost — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Lower Sorbian: góźba — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Spanish: oportunidad — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Spanish: baza — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Swahili: fursa — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Swedish: tillfälle — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Swedish: möjlighet — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Tajik: фурсат (fursat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Tajik: имконият (imkoniyat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Tajik: имкон (imkon) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Tatar: форсат (forsat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Telugu: అవకాశం (avakāśaṁ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Thai: โอกาส (oo-gàat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Turkish: fırsat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Turkmen: pursat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Ukrainian: можли́вість (možlývistʹ) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Ukrainian: шанс (šans) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Urdu: فرصت (fursat) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Urdu: موقع (mauqa') — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Uyghur: پۇرسەت (purset) — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Uzbek: imkoniyat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Uzbek: fursat — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Vietnamese: cơ hội — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Zhuang: gihvei — chance for advancement, progress or profit
  • Asturian: oportunidá — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Bashkir: форсат (forsat) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Bengali: মওকা (moōka) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Bulgarian: удо́бен случа́й (udóben slučáj) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Catalan: oportunitat — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 機會 /机会 (jīhuì) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Czech: příležitost — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Czech: šance — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Danish: mulighed — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Dutch: gelegenheid — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Finnish: tilaisuus — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • French: occasion favorable — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • French: opportunité — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Galician: oportunidade — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • German: Gelegenheit — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Greek: ευκαιρία (efkairía) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Ancient Greek: εὐκαιρία (eukairía) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Ancient Greek: καιρός (kairós) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Hungarian: alkalom — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Italian: opportunità — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Italian: occasione — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Kabuverdianu: txansa — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Kabuverdianu: xanse — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Latin: opportūnitās — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Occitan: oportunitat — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Plautdietsch: Jeläajenheit — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: gratka — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: możliwość — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: okazja — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: pretekst — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: sposobność — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Polish: szansa — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Portuguese: oportunidade — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Russian: удо́бный слу́чай (udóbnyj slúčaj) — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Serbo-Croatian: при́лика — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Serbo-Croatian: при̏года — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Serbo-Croatian: prílika — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Serbo-Croatian: prȉgoda — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Lower Sorbian: góźba — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Spanish: oportunidad — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Swahili: fursa — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Swahili: nafasi — favorable circumstance or occasion
  • Ukrainian: наго́да (nahóda) — favorable circumstance or occasion
Real reading context

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